Agreement on cooperation between Eurojust and Serbia

PURPOSE: to approve the conclusion by Eurojust of the Agreement on cooperation between Eurojust and Serbia.

PROPOSED ACT: Council implementing decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being obliged to follow its opinion.

BACKGROUND: in accordance with Decision 2002/187/JHA, Eurojust may conclude agreements with third States and organisations. Such agreements may, in particular, concern the exchange of information, including personal data, and the secondment of liaison officers or liaison magistrates to Eurojust. Such agreements may only be concluded after consultation by Eurojust with the Joint Supervisory Body concerning the provisions on data protection and after approval by the Council.

In order to strengthen its capacity to work with Serbia, Eurojust has negotiated an Agreement on cooperation between Eurojust and Serbia.

Serbia has ratified the Convention and the Additional Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data regarding supervisory authorities and transborder data flows. The Joint Supervisory Body of Eurojust gave a positive opinion on the provisions of the Agreement concerning data protection.

The Agreement was approved by the College of Eurojust on 26 March 2019.

CONTENT: under the draft Council Implementing Decision, Eurojust would be authorised to conclude the Agreement on cooperation between Eurojust and Serbia.

The Agreement includes provisions on the exchange of personal data.

Denmark, the United Kingdom and Ireland are participating in the adoption and implementation of the Decision.