Eurojust
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 6 March 2002 |
| Jurisdiction | European Union |
| Headquarters | The Hague, Netherlands |
| Employees | 339 (2014) |
| Annual budget | € 32.4 million (2014) |
| Agency executives |
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| Key document | |
| Website | eurojust |
Eurojust (also spelled capitalised as EUROJUST) is an agency of the European Union (EU) dealing with judicial co-operation in criminal matters. The seat of Eurojust is in The Hague.
Established in 2002, it was created to improve handling of serious cross-border and organized crime by stimulating investigative and prosecutorial co-ordination among agencies of the EU Member States. Eurojust is composed of a College formed of 28 National Members—experienced judges, prosecutors, or police officers of equivalent competence from each EU Member State. The terms and duties of the members are defined by the state that appoints them. Eurojust also co-operates with third states and other EU bodies such as the European Judicial Network, Europol, and OLAF.
Eurojust was established as a result of a decision that the European Council of Tampere (15–16 October 1999) made to set up a permanent judicial co-operation unit in order to improve the fight against serious crime. The Treaty of Nice amended the Treaty on the European Union to include a reference to Eurojust. On 14 December 2000, a precursor organization called Pro-Eurojust was created by the Council of the European Union to permit prosecutors to test the Eurojust processes. It began operating in Brussels on 1 March 2001. The terrorist attacks in the U.S. in September of that year demonstrated strongly the need for international cooperation, speeding the development of Eurojust, which was then established in February 2002 by Council Decision 2002/187/JHA. The new organization settled in The Hague on 29 April 2003.
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