Brussels proposes to strengthen cooperation with 8 countries against organised crime

ANDthe European Commission has stated that the proposal aims to open negotiations with Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and the United Arab Emirates to reach judicial cooperation agreements.

“ Eurojust and the new partner countries could then share operational information, support joint investigations with Member States of the European Union (EU) and strengthen daily cooperation between judicial authorities,” the EU Executive said.

Cited in the statement, the Vice-President of the European Commission with the Security Directorate, Henna Virkkunen, said that criminal groups today “cross borders easily and exploit new technologies to escape justice.”.

“ The more countries that cooperate with us, the less room for manoeuvre we leave the criminals. These agreements would significantly strengthen our ability to bring those responsible to justice,” he said.

The European Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, also considered that organised crime is becoming “more and more transnational, sophisticated and interconnected” and therefore the EU’s response should also be “coordinated and interconnected”.

“Only by working together, beyond borders, can we dismantle criminal networks and combat drug trafficking, cybercrime and money laundering,” he said.

The European Commission said that Eurojust currently has agreements with 16 countries: Armenia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States.

“ All these agreements include sound safeguards to protect personal data, privacy and fundamental rights in accordance with EU law,” said the EU Executive.

The Commission also indicated that it has a mandate from the EU Council to negotiate new agreements with Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey.

Eurojust is the European Agency responsible for supporting national judicial authorities to coordinate in cross-border investigations.

In June, the European Commission proposed a revision of this agency’s mandate to cover new areas such as cybercrime or “gender-based violence” but also to strengthen partnerships with third countries.