Athens, 2 February 2022

Hellenic Parliament participates in Inter-Parliamentary Meeting of European Parliament Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on Eurojust

A delegation of the Hellenic Parliament, consisting of MPs Efstathios Konstantinidis (New Democracy) and Theofilos Xanthopoulos (SYRIZA), members of the Standing Committee on Public Administration, Public Order and Justice, participated remotely in the Inter-Parliamentary meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) evaluating the activities of Eurojust.

The meeting was held in two sessions: 1) Eurojust current and future activities, especially in the current pandemic, 2) Cooperation between Eurojust, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and national authorities.

Mr Konstantinidis, head of the Hellenic Parliament delegation, referred to the cooperation between Eurojust, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and national authorities, noting that coordination between prosecuting and judicial authorities is necessary in the fight against organised crime, despite differences in the legal systems of the states and the complexity of cross-border crime cases. Eurojust has successfully adapted to the new situation and has been very successful in prosecuting crimes during the pandemic and in addressing cases linked to the management thereof, taking on an ever increasing number of new cases. In particular, regarding cross-border crime, Mr Konstantinidis focused on the need to combat cyber fraud, to crack down on illegal migration networks and on the need to strengthen cooperation with Europol.

Mr Xanthopoulos noted that the Eurojust organisation, the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, as well as the establishment of Joint Investigation Teams contribute to the field of judicial cooperation and described as positive the adaptation of their operation to the special circumstances created by the new health rules. He expressed his support for the creation of a secure internet tool for direct communication between Eurojust and national judicial authorities, and for clearly defining which crimes fall under the jurisdiction of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, so that there be no overlapping of duties with other European bodies. He also stressed that the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs should propose measures to serve the rule of law by supporting the relevant control mechanisms. Lastly, he asked about the protection of personal data during the digital exchange of information, given the increase of new cases by 15% and the reduction of staff.

Back