On January 21, 2021, The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and Europol, the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, have set the basis of their future cooperation, in the form of a working arrangement. The working arrangement was approved late 2020 by EPPO’s College and Europol’s Management Board and signed in Luxembourg by the European Chief Prosecutor, Laura Kövesi, after Europol’s Executive Director Catherine De Bolle signed it in The Hague.
The working arrangement is a legal instrument that establishes cooperative relations between Europol and EPPO within the limits of their respective legal frameworks and mandates. Cooperation will mainly exist through the exchange of information between the two parties regarding, for instance, specialist knowledge or criminal investigation procedures, but also through the mutual participation in training activities as well as the provision of advice and support in individual criminal investigations.
Interconnectivity and tracking mechanism improving mutual access to criminal case files by law enforcement agencies, prosecutors’ offices and courts are also needed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The EU4Justice project is devoted to establishing similar working relations between Law Enforcement Agencies and Prosecutors Offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina by assisting development of information exchange system.
Currently, the project is finalizing the outline of the concept to improve the electronic workflow in the relation police – the prosecutor – court, based on the existing IT infrastructure.
More information about cooperation between EUROPOL and EPPO is available at the following link.
