Regulation (EU) 2018/1727 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 on the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), and replacing and repealing Council Decision 2002/187/JHA

The European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) is hereby established.

Eurojust as established by this Regulation shall replace and succeed Eurojust as established by Decision 2002/187/JHA.

Eurojust shall have legal personality.

Eurojust shall support and strengthen coordination and cooperation between national investigating and prosecuting authorities in relation to serious crime which Eurojust is competent to deal with in accordance with Article 3(1) and (3), where that crime affects two or more Member States, or requires prosecution on common bases, on the basis of operations conducted and information supplied by the Member States’ authorities, by Europol, by the EPPO and by OLAF.

In carrying out its tasks, Eurojust shall:

Eurojust shall carry out its tasks at the request of the competent authorities of the Member States, on its own initiative or at the request of the EPPO within the limits of the EPPO’s competence.

Eurojust shall be competent with respect to the forms of serious crime listed in Annex I. However, as of the date on which the EPPO assumes its investigative and prosecutorial tasks in accordance with Article 120(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939, Eurojust shall not exercise its competence with regard to crimes for which the EPPO exercises its competence, except in those cases where Member States which do not participate in enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the EPPO are also involved and at the request of those Member States or at the request of the EPPO.

Eurojust shall exercise its competence for crimes affecting the financial interests of the Union in cases involving Member States which participate in enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the EPPO but in respect of which the EPPO does not have competence or decides not to exercise its competence.

As regards forms of crime other than those listed in Annex I, Eurojust may also, in accordance with its tasks, assist with investigations and prosecutions where requested by a competent authority of a Member State.

Eurojust’s competence shall cover criminal offences related to the criminal offences listed in Annex I. The following categories of offences shall be regarded as related criminal offences:

Eurojust may also assist with investigations and prosecutions that only affect a Member State and a third country or a Member State and an international organisation, provided that a cooperation agreement or arrangement establishing cooperation pursuant to Article 52 has been concluded with that third country or that international organisation, or provided that in a specific case there is an essential interest in providing such assistance.

At the request of either the competent authority of a Member State or the Commission, Eurojust may assist in investigations and prosecutions that only affect that Member State but which have repercussions at Union level. Before acting at the request of the Commission, Eurojust shall consult the competent authority of the Member State concerned. That competent authority may, within a deadline set by Eurojust, oppose the execution of the request by Eurojust, justifying its position in every case.

Eurojust shall:

In carrying out its tasks, Eurojust may ask the competent authorities of the Member States concerned, giving its reasons, to:

Eurojust may also:

Where two or more Member States cannot agree as to which of them should undertake an investigation or prosecution following a request under points (a) or (b) of paragraph 2, Eurojust shall issue a written opinion on the case. Eurojust shall send the opinion to the Member States concerned immediately.

At the request of a competent authority, or on its own initiative, Eurojust shall issue a written opinion on recurrent refusals or difficulties concerning the execution of requests for, and decisions on, judicial cooperation, including requests and decisions based on instruments giving effect to the principle of mutual recognition, provided that it is not possible to resolve such cases through mutual agreement between the competent national authorities or through the involvement of the national members concerned. Eurojust shall send the opinion to the Member States concerned immediately.

The competent authorities of the Member States concerned shall respond to requests from Eurojust under paragraph 2 and to the written opinions referred to in paragraph 4 or 5 without undue delay. The competent authorities of the Member States may refuse to comply with such requests or to follow the written opinion if doing so would harm essential national security interests, would jeopardise the success of an ongoing investigation or would jeopardise the safety of an individual.

Eurojust shall act through one or more of the national members concerned when taking any of the actions referred to in Article 4(1) or (2). Without prejudice to paragraph 2 of this Article, the College shall focus on operational issues and any other issues that are directly linked to operational matters. The College shall only be involved in administrative matters to the extent necessary to ensure that its operational functions are fulfilled.

Eurojust shall act as a College:

When it fulfils its tasks, Eurojust shall indicate whether it is acting through one or more of the national members or as a College.

The College may assign additional administrative tasks to the Administrative Director and the Executive Board beyond those provided for in Articles 16 and 18, in accordance with its operational needs.

The College shall adopt Eurojust’s rules of procedure on the basis of a two-thirds majority of its members. In the event that agreement cannot be reached by a two-thirds majority, the decision shall be taken by simple majority. Eurojust’s rules of procedure shall be approved by the Council by means of implementing acts.

Eurojust shall have one national member seconded by each Member State in accordance with its legal system. That national member shall have his or her regular place of work at the seat of Eurojust.

Each national member shall be assisted by one deputy and by one Assistant. In principle, the deputy and the Assistant shall have their regular place of work at the seat of Eurojust. Each Member State may decide that the deputy or Assistant or both will have their regular place of work in their Member State. If a Member State takes such a decision, it shall notify the College. If the operational needs of Eurojust so require, the College may request the Member State to assign the deputy or Assistant or both to work at the seat of Eurojust for a specified period. The Member State shall comply with such a request from the College without undue delay.

Additional deputies or Assistants may assist the national member and, if necessary and with the agreement of the College, may have their regular place of work at Eurojust. Member States shall notify Eurojust and the Commission of the appointment of national members, deputies and Assistants.

National members and deputies shall have the status of a prosecutor, a judge or a representative of a judicial authority with competences equivalent to those of a prosecutor or judge under their national law. The Member States shall grant them at least the powers referred to in this Regulation in order to be able to fulfil their tasks.

The terms of office of the national members and their deputies shall be five years, renewable once. In cases where a deputy is unable to act on behalf of a national member or is unable to substitute for a national member, the national member shall remain in office upon expiry of his or her term of office until the renewal of his or her term or his or her replacement, subject to the consent of their Member State.

Member States shall appoint national members and deputies on the basis of a proven high level of relevant, practical experience in the field of criminal justice.

The deputy shall be able to act on behalf of or to substitute for the national member. An Assistant may also act on behalf of or substitute for the national member if he or she has a status referred to in paragraph 4.

Operational information exchange between Eurojust and Member States shall take place through the national members.

The salaries and emoluments of the national members, deputies and Assistants shall be borne by their Member State without prejudice to Article 12.

Where national members, deputies and Assistants act within the framework of Eurojust’s tasks, the relevant expenditure related to those activities shall be regarded as operational expenditure.

The national members shall have the power to:

Without prejudice to paragraph 1, Member States may grant additional powers to national members in accordance with their national law. Those Member States shall notify the Commission and the College of these powers.

With the agreement of the competent national authority, national members may, in accordance with their national law:

In urgent cases where it is not possible to identify or to contact the competent national authority in a timely manner, national members shall be competent to take the measures referred to in paragraph 3 in accordance with their national law, provided that they inform the competent national authority as soon as possible.

The national member may submit a proposal to the competent national authority to carry out the measures referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 where the exercise of the powers referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 by that national member would be in conflict with:

Member States shall ensure that, in cases referred to in paragraph 5, the proposal submitted by their national member is handled without undue delay by the competent national authority.

The College shall be composed of:

The Administrative Director shall attend the management meetings of the College, without the right to vote.

The College may invite any person whose opinion may be of interest to attend its meetings as an observer.

The members of the College may, subject to the provisions of Eurojust’s rules of procedure, be assisted by advisers or experts.

The College shall elect a President and two Vice-Presidents from among the national members by a two-thirds majority of its members. In the event that a two-thirds majority cannot be reached after the second round of election, the Vice-Presidents shall be elected by a simple majority of the members of the College, while a two-thirds majority shall continue to be necessary for the election of the President.

The President shall exercise his or her functions on behalf of the College. The President shall:

The Vice-Presidents shall exercise the functions set out in paragraph 2 which the President entrusts to them. They shall replace the President if he or she is prevented from attending to his or her duties. The President and Vice-Presidents shall be assisted in the performance of their specific duties by the administrative staff of Eurojust.

The term of office of the President and the Vice-Presidents shall be four years. They may be re-elected once.

When a national member is elected President or Vice-President of Eurojust, his or her term of office shall be extended to ensure that he or she can fulfil his or her function as President or Vice-President.

If the President or Vice-President no longer fulfils the conditions required for the performance of his or her duties, he or she may be dismissed by the College acting on a proposal from one third of its members. The decision shall be adopted on the basis of a two-thirds majority of the members of the College, excluding the President or Vice-President concerned.

When a national member is elected President of Eurojust, the Member State concerned may second another suitably qualified person to reinforce the national desk for the duration of the former’s mandate as President.

By 12 December 2019, the Council shall, acting on a proposal by the Commission and by means of implementing acts, determine a mechanism for compensation, for the purpose of Article 11(7), to be made available to Member States whose national member is elected President.

The compensation shall be available to any Member State if:

The compensation provided shall equate to 50 % of the national salary of the seconded person. Compensation for living costs and other associated expenses shall be provided on a comparable basis to that provided to Union officials or other servants seconded abroad.

The costs of the compensation mechanism shall be borne by Eurojust’s budget.

The President shall convene the meetings of the College.

The College shall hold at least one meeting per month. In addition, it shall meet on the initiative of the President, at the request of the Commission to discuss the administrative tasks of the College, or at the request of at least one third of its members.

Eurojust shall send the EPPO the agenda of College meetings whenever issues are discussed which are of relevance for the exercise of the tasks of the EPPO. Eurojust shall invite the EPPO to participate in such meetings, without the right to vote. When the EPPO is invited to a College meeting, Eurojust shall provide it with the relevant documents supporting the agenda.

Unless stated otherwise, and where a consensus cannot be reached, the College shall take its decisions by a majority of its members.

Each member shall have one vote. In the absence of a voting member, the deputy shall be entitled to exercise the right to vote subject to the conditions set out in Article 7(7). In the absence of the deputy, the Assistant shall also be entitled to exercise the right to vote subject to the conditions set out in Article 7(7).

By 30 November each year, the College shall adopt a programming document containing annual and multi-annual programming, based on a draft prepared by the Administrative Director, taking into account the opinion of the Commission. The College shall forward the programming document to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the EPPO. The programming document shall become definitive after final adoption of the general budget of the Union and shall be adjusted accordingly, if necessary.

The annual work programme shall comprise detailed objectives and expected results including performance indicators. It shall also contain a description of the actions to be financed and an indication of the financial and human resources allocated to each action, in accordance with the principles of activity-based budgeting and management. The annual work programme shall be coherent with the multi-annual work programme referred to in paragraph 4. It shall clearly indicate which tasks have been added, changed or deleted in comparison with the previous financial year.

The College shall amend the adopted annual work programme when a new task is given to Eurojust. Any substantial amendment to the annual work programme shall be adopted by the same procedure as the initial annual work programme. The College may delegate to the Administrative Director the power to make non-substantial amendments to the annual work programme.

The multi-annual work programme shall set out overall strategic programming including objectives, the strategy for cooperation with the authorities of third countries and international organisations referred to in Article 52, expected results and performance indicators. It shall also set out resource programming including multi-annual budget and staff. The resource programming shall be updated annually. The strategic programming shall be updated where appropriate, and in particular to address the outcome of the evaluation referred to in Article 69.

The College shall be assisted by an Executive Board. The Executive Board shall be responsible for taking administrative decisions to ensure the proper functioning of Eurojust. It shall oversee the necessary preparatory work of the Administrative Director on other administrative matters for adoption by the College. It shall not be involved in the operational functions of Eurojust referred to in Articles 4 and 5.

The Executive Board may consult the College when carrying out its tasks.

The Executive Board shall also:

The Executive Board shall be composed of the President and Vice-Presidents of Eurojust, one representative of the Commission and two other members of the College designated on a two-year rotation system in accordance with Eurojust’s rules of procedure. The Administrative Director shall attend the meetings of the Executive Board without the right to vote.

The President of Eurojust shall be the chairperson of the Executive Board. The Executive Board shall take its decisions by a majority of its members. Each member shall have one vote. In the event of a tied vote, the President of Eurojust shall have a casting vote.

The term of office of members of the Executive Board shall end when their term as national members, President or Vice-President ends.

The Executive Board shall meet at least once a month. In addition, it shall meet on the initiative of its chairperson or at the request of the Commission or of at least two of its other members.

Eurojust shall send to the EPPO the agenda of the Executive Board meetings and consult with the EPPO on the need to participate in those meetings. Eurojust shall invite the EPPO to participate, without the right to vote, whenever issues are discussed which are of relevance for the functioning of the EPPO.

The Administrative Director shall be engaged as a temporary agent of Eurojust under point (a) of Article 2 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants.

The Administrative Director shall be appointed by the College from a list of candidates proposed by the Executive Board, following an open and transparent selection procedure in accordance with Eurojust’s rules of procedure. For the purpose of concluding the employment contract with the Administrative Director, Eurojust shall be represented by the President of Eurojust.

The term of office of the Administrative Director shall be four years. By the end of that period, the Executive Board shall undertake an assessment that takes into account an evaluation of the performance of the Administrative Director.

The College, acting on a proposal from the Executive Board that takes into account the assessment referred to in paragraph 3, may extend the term of office of the Administrative Director once and for no more than four years.

An Administrative Director whose term of office has been extended shall not participate in another selection procedure for the same post at the end of the overall period.

The Administrative Director shall be accountable to the College.

The Administrative Director may be removed from the office only pursuant to a decision of the College acting on a proposal from the Executive Board.

For administrative purposes, Eurojust shall be managed by its Administrative Director.

Without prejudice to the powers of the College or the Executive Board, the Administrative Director shall be independent in the performance of his or her duties and shall neither seek nor take instructions from any government or any other body.

The Administrative Director shall be the legal representative of Eurojust.

The Administrative Director shall be responsible for the implementation of the administrative tasks assigned to Eurojust, in particular:

In order to fulfil its tasks in urgent cases, Eurojust shall operate an on-call coordination mechanism (‘OCC’) able to receive and process at all times the requests referred to it. The OCC shall be contactable 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The OCC shall rely on one OCC representative per Member State who may be either the national member, his or her deputy, an Assistant entitled to replace the national member, or a seconded national expert. The OCC representative shall be available to act 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The OCC representatives shall act efficiently and without delay in relation to the execution of a request in their Member State.

Each Member State shall appoint one or more national correspondents for Eurojust.

All national correspondents appointed by the Member States under paragraph 1 shall have the skills and experience necessary for them to carry out their duties.

Each Member State shall set up a Eurojust national coordination system to ensure coordination of the work carried out by:

The persons referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 shall retain their position and status under national law, without this having a significant impact on the performance of their duties under this Regulation.

The national correspondents for Eurojust shall be responsible for the functioning of their Eurojust national coordination system. Where several correspondents for Eurojust are appointed, one of them shall be responsible for the functioning of their Eurojust national coordination system.

The national members shall be informed of all meetings of their Eurojust national coordination system where casework-related matters are discussed. The national members may attend such meetings as necessary.

Each Eurojust national coordination system shall facilitate the carrying out of Eurojust’s tasks within the Member State concerned, in particular by:

In order to meet the objectives referred to in paragraph 7 of this Article, the persons referred to in paragraph 3, points (a), (b) and (c), of this Article shall be connected to the case management system in accordance with this Article and with Articles 23, 24, 25 and 34. The cost of connection to the case management system shall be borne by the general budget of the Union.

The setting up of the Eurojust national coordination system and the appointment of national correspondents shall not prevent direct contacts between the national member and the competent authorities of his or her Member State.

The competent authorities of the Member States shall exchange with Eurojust all information necessary for the performance of its tasks under Articles 2 and 4 in accordance with the applicable data protection rules. This shall at least include the information referred to in paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 of this Article.

The transmission of information to Eurojust shall only be interpreted as a request for the assistance of Eurojust in the case concerned if so specified by a competent authority.

The national members shall exchange all information necessary for the performance of Eurojust’s tasks among themselves or with their competent national authorities, without prior authorisation. In particular, the competent national authorities shall promptly inform their national members of a case which concerns them.

The competent national authorities shall inform their national members of the setting up of joint investigation teams and of the results of the work of such teams.

The competent national authorities shall inform their national members without undue delay of any case affecting at least three Member States for which requests for or decisions on judicial cooperation, including requests and decisions based on instruments giving effect to the principle of mutual recognition, have been transmitted to at least two Member States, where one or more of the following apply:

The competent national authorities shall inform their national members of:

The competent national authorities shall not be obliged to supply information in a particular case if doing so would harm essential national security interests or jeopardise the safety of individuals.

This Article is without prejudice to conditions set out in bilateral or multilateral agreements or arrangements between Member States and third countries, including any conditions set by third countries concerning the use of information once supplied.

This Article shall not affect other obligations regarding the transmission of information to Eurojust.

The competent national authorities shall not be obliged to provide information as referred to in this Article where such information has already been transmitted to Eurojust in accordance with other provisions of this Regulation.

As regards terrorist offences, the competent national authorities shall inform their national members of any ongoing or concluded criminal investigations supervised by judicial authorities as soon as the case is referred to the judicial authorities in accordance with national law, in particular national criminal procedural law, of any ongoing or concluded prosecutions and court proceedings, and of any court decisions on terrorist offences. That obligation shall apply to all criminal investigations related to terrorist offences regardless of whether there is a known link to another Member State or a third country unless the criminal investigation, due to its specific circumstances, clearly affects only one Member State.

Paragraph 1 shall not apply where:

Terrorist offences for the purpose of this Article are offences referred to in Directive (EU) 2017/541 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0003]).

The information transmitted in accordance with paragraph 1 shall include the operational personal data and non-personal data set out in Annex III. Such information may include personal data in accordance with Annex III, point (d), but only if such personal data are held by or can be communicated to the competent national authorities in accordance with national law and if the transmission of those data is necessary to identify reliably a data subject under Article 27(5).

Subject to paragraph 2, the competent national authorities shall inform their national members about any changes to the information transmitted under paragraph 1 without undue delay and, where possible, no later than 10 working days after such changes.

The competent national authority shall not be obliged to provide such information where it has already been transmitted to Eurojust.

The national competent authority may at any stage request the support of Eurojust in the follow-up action as regards links identified on the basis of information provided under this Article.

Eurojust shall provide competent national authorities with information on the results of the processing of information, including the existence of links with cases already stored in the case management system, without undue delay. That information may include personal data.

Where a competent national authority requests that Eurojust provide it with information within a certain timeframe, Eurojust shall transmit that information within that timeframe.

Communication between the competent national authorities and Eurojust under this Regulation shall be carried out through the decentralised IT system. The case management system referred to in Article 23 shall be connected with a network of IT systems and interoperable e-CODEX access points, which operate under the individual responsibility and management of each Member State and Eurojust, enabling the secure and reliable cross-border exchange of information (‘the decentralised IT system’).

Where exchange of information in accordance with paragraph 1 is not possible due to the unavailability of the decentralised IT system or due to exceptional circumstances, it shall be carried out by the swiftest, most appropriate alternative means. Member States and Eurojust shall ensure that the alternative means of communication are reliable and provide an equivalent level of security and data protection.

The competent national authorities shall transmit the information referred to in Articles 21 and 21a of this Regulation to Eurojust in a semi-automated and structured manner from national registers. The arrangements for such transmission shall be determined by the Commission, in consultation with Eurojust, in an implementing act, in accordance with Article 22b of this Regulation. In particular, that implementing act shall determine the format of the data transmitted pursuant to Annex III, point (d), to this Regulation and the necessary technical standards with regard to the transmission of such data, and shall set out the digital procedural standards as defined in Article 3, point 9, of Regulation (EU) 2022/850 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0004]).

The Commission shall be responsible for the creation, maintenance and development of reference implementation software which Member States and Eurojust may choose to apply as their back-end system. That reference implementation software shall be based on a modular setup, meaning that the software is packaged and delivered separately from the e-CODEX components needed to connect it to the decentralised IT system. That setup shall enable Member States to reuse or enhance their existing national judicial communication infrastructures for the purpose of cross-border use and Eurojust to connect its case management system to the decentralised IT system.

The Commission shall provide, maintain and support the reference implementation software free of charge. The creation, maintenance and development of the reference implementation software shall be financed from the general budget of the Union.

Member States and Eurojust shall bear their respective costs for establishing and operating an authorised e-CODEX access point as defined in Article 3, point 3, of Regulation (EU) 2022/850, and for establishing and adjusting their relevant IT systems to make them interoperable with the access points.

The Commission shall adopt the implementing acts necessary for the establishment and use of the decentralised IT system for communication under this Regulation, setting out the following:

The implementing acts referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be adopted by 1 November 2025 in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 22c(2).

The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council ([^E0005]).

Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Eurojust shall establish a case management system for the processing of operational personal data listed in Annex II, data listed in Annex III and non-personal data.

The purposes of the case management system shall be to:

The case management system may be linked to the secure telecommunications connection referred to in Article 9 of Council Decision 2008/976/JHA ([^E0006]) and other secure communication channels in accordance with applicable Union law.

Where Eurojust has been granted access to data in or from other Union information systems established under other Union legal acts, it may use the case management system to access data in or to connect to such information systems for the purpose of retrieving and processing information, including personal data, provided that it is necessary for the performance of its tasks and is in line with the Union legal acts establishing such information systems.

Paragraphs 3 and 4 do not extend the access rights granted to Eurojust to other Union information systems under the Union legal acts establishing those systems.

For the processing of operational personal data, Eurojust shall not establish any automated data file other than the case management system.

In the performance of their duties, national members may process personal data on the individual cases on which they are working, in accordance with this Regulation or other applicable instruments. They shall allow the Data Protection Officer to have access to the personal data processed in the case management system.

The national member shall store the information transmitted to that national member in accordance with this Regulation or other applicable instruments in the case management system.

The national member shall decide, on a case-by-case basis, whether to keep access to the information restricted or to give access to it or to parts of it to other national members, to liaison prosecutors seconded to Eurojust, to authorised Eurojust staff or to any other person working on behalf of Eurojust who has received the necessary authorisation from the Administrative Director.

The national member shall indicate, in consultation with the competent national authorities, in general or specific terms, any restrictions on the further handling, access and transfer of the information if a link as referred to in Article 23(2), point (c), has been identified.

Persons referred to in Article 20(3), points (a), (b) and (c), shall have access to no more than the following data:

The national member shall, within the limitations provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article, decide on the extent to which access is granted to the persons referred to in Article 20(3), points (a), (b) and (c), in their Member State.

Data provided in accordance with Article 21a may be accessed at national level only by national correspondents for Eurojust in terrorism matters as referred to in Article 20(3), point (c).

Each Member State may decide, after consultation with its national member, that persons referred to in Article 20(3), points (a), (b) and (c), may, within the limitations provided for in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, enter information in the case management system concerning their Member State. Such contribution shall be subject to validation by the respective national member. The College shall lay down the details of the practical implementation of this paragraph. Member States shall notify Eurojust and the Commission of their decision regarding the implementation of this paragraph. The Commission shall inform the other Member States thereof.

This Regulation and Article 3 and Chapter IX of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 shall apply to the processing of operational personal data by Eurojust. Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 shall apply to the processing of administrative personal data by Eurojust, with the exception of Chapter IX of that Regulation.

References to ‘applicable data protection rules’ in this Regulation shall be understood as references to the provisions on data protection set out in this Regulation and in Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.

The data protection rules on processing of operational personal data contained in this Regulation shall be considered as specific data protection rules to the general rules laid down in Article 3 and Chapter IX of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.

Eurojust shall determine the time limits for the storage of administrative personal data in the data protection provisions of its rules of procedure.

In so far as it is necessary to perform its tasks, Eurojust may, within the framework of its competence and in order to carry out its operational functions, process by automated means or in structured manual files in accordance with this Regulation only the operational personal data listed in point 1 of Annex II of persons who, under the national law of the Member States concerned, are persons with regard to whom there are serious grounds for believing that they have committed or are about to commit a criminal offence in respect of which Eurojust is competent or who have been convicted of such an offence.

Eurojust may process only the operational personal data listed in point 2 of Annex II of persons who, under the national law of the Member States concerned, are regarded as victims or other parties to a criminal offence, such as persons who might be called to testify in a criminal investigation or prosecution regarding one or more of the types of crime and the criminal offences referred to in Article 3, persons who are able to provide information on criminal offences, or contacts or associates of a person referred to in paragraph 1. The processing of such operational personal data may only take place if it is necessary for the fulfilment of the tasks of Eurojust, within the framework of its competence and in order to carry out its operational functions.

In exceptional cases, for a limited period of time which shall not exceed the time needed for the conclusion of the case in relation to which the data are processed, Eurojust may also process operational personal data other than the personal data referred to in Annex II relating to the circumstances of an offence, where such data are immediately relevant to and are included in ongoing investigations which Eurojust is coordinating or helping to coordinate and when their processing is necessary for the purposes specified in paragraph 1. The Data Protection Officer referred to in Article 36 shall be informed immediately when such operational personal data are processed, and shall be informed of the specific circumstances which justify the necessity of the processing of those operational personal data. Where such other data refer to witnesses or victims within the meaning of paragraph 2 of this Article, the decision to process them shall be taken jointly by the national members concerned.

Eurojust may process special categories of operational personal data in accordance with Article 76 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. Where such other data refer to witnesses or victims within the meaning of paragraph 2 of this Article, the decision to process them shall be taken by the national members concerned.

Where operational personal data are transmitted in accordance with Article 21a, Eurojust may process the operational personal data listed in Annex III of the following persons:

Operational personal data processed by Eurojust shall be stored by Eurojust for only as long as is necessary for the performance of its tasks. In particular, without prejudice to paragraph 3 of this Article, the operational personal data referred to in Article 27 may not be stored beyond the first applicable date among the following dates:

Observance of the storage deadlines referred to in paragraphs 1 and 1a shall be reviewed constantly by appropriate automated processing conducted by Eurojust, in particular from the moment Eurojust ceases to provide support.

Before one of the storage deadlines referred to in paragraphs 1 and 1a expires, Eurojust shall review the need for the continued storage of the operational personal data where and as long as this is necessary to perform its tasks.

Where, in accordance with paragraph 3, operational personal data have been stored beyond the storage deadlines referred to in paragraph 1, the EDPS shall also carry out a review of the need to store those data every three years.

Once the deadline for the storage of the last item of automated data from the file has expired, all documents in the file shall be destroyed with the exception of any original documents which Eurojust has received from national authorities and which need to be returned to their provider.

Where Eurojust has coordinated an investigation or prosecutions, the national members concerned shall inform each other whenever they receive information that the case has been dismissed or that all judicial decisions related to the case have become final.

Paragraph 5 shall not apply where:

Any data subject who wishes to exercise the right of access referred to in Article 80 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 to operational personal data that relate to the data subject and which have been processed by Eurojust may make a request to Eurojust or to the national supervisory authority in the Member State of the data subject’s choice. That authority shall refer the request to Eurojust without delay, and in any case within one month of its receipt.

The request shall be answered by Eurojust without undue delay and in any case within three months of its receipt by Eurojust.

The competent authorities of the Member States concerned shall be consulted by Eurojust on the decision to be taken in response to a request. The decision on access to data shall only be taken by Eurojust in close cooperation with the Member States directly concerned by the communication of such data. Where a Member State objects to Eurojust’s proposed decision, it shall notify Eurojust of the reasons for its objection. Eurojust shall comply with any such objection. The national members concerned shall subsequently notify the competent authorities of the content of Eurojust’s decision.

The national members concerned shall deal with the request and reach a decision on Eurojust’s behalf. Where the national members concerned are not in agreement, they shall refer the matter to the College, which shall take its decision on the request by a two-thirds majority.

Eurojust shall maintain a record of all categories of processing activities under its responsibility. That record shall contain all of the following information:

The records referred to in paragraph 1 shall be in writing, including in electronic form.

Eurojust shall make the record available to the EDPS on request.

The Executive Board shall designate a Data Protection Officer. The Data Protection Officer shall be a member of staff specifically appointed for this purpose. In the performance of his or her duties, the Data Protection Officer shall act independently and may not receive any instructions.

The Data Protection Officer shall be selected on the basis of his or her professional qualities and, in particular, expert knowledge of data protection law and practice, and ability to fulfil his or her tasks under this Regulation, in particular those referred to in Article 38.