COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Analytical Supporting Document Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council concerning the establishment of a collaboration platform to support the functioning of Joint Investigation Teams and amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1726
Date: 2021-12-01
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, European Anti-fraud Office, Europol, criminal procedure, exchange of information, fact-finding mission, fight against crime, judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU, offence, third country

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 1.12.2021  SWD(2021) 390 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Analytical Supporting Document     Accompanying the document              Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council concerning the establishment of a collaboration platform to support the functioning of Joint Investigation Teams and amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1726     {COM(2021) 756 final}  
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................... 2 

PROBLEM DEFINITION..................................................................................................................... 3 

2.1  UNSECURE AND TOO SLOW EXCHANGE OF EVIDENCE AND INFORMATION .......................................................... 4 
2.2  UNSECURE AND INEFFECTIVE TOOLS/CHANNELS USED FOR THE COMMUNICATION............................................... 5 
2.3  DIFFICULTIES CONCERNING DAILY MANAGEMENT OF A JIT ............................................................................. 5 

3. 

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND ADDED VALUE............................................................................. 6 

4 

5 

6 

7 

3.1 
LEGAL BASIS ......................................................................................................................................... 6 
3.2  SUBSIDIARITY ........................................................................................................................................ 6 

OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................................................... 7 

THE PREFERRED OPTION ................................................................................................................. 7 

5.1  HORIZONTAL ASPECTS ............................................................................................................................ 8 
5.2  KEY FUNCTIONS ..................................................................................................................................... 8 
5.3  OTHER FUNCTIONS ................................................................................................................................ 9 
5.4  ACCESS RIGHTS ................................................................................................................................... 10 

STAKEHOLDER VIEWS ................................................................................................................... 11 

ASSESSMENT OF THE PREFERRED OPTION .................................................................................... 14 

7.1  EFFECTIVENES ..................................................................................................................................... 14 
7.2  TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY................................................................................................ 15 
7.3  EFFICIENCY ......................................................................................................................................... 15 
IMPACT ON FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS ......................................................................................................... 20 
7.4 
7.5 
INFORMATION CONTROL AND SECURITY. .................................................................................................. 21 
7.6  PROPORTIONALITY ............................................................................................................................... 21 

8 

IMPACT MONITORING .................................................................................................................. 22 

 
 
 
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) are teams set up for specific criminal investigations and 
for a limited period of time. They are set up by the competent authorities of two or more 
Member  States  and  possibly  non-EU  countries  (third  countries),  to  carry  out  together 
criminal  investigations  that  cross  borders.  A  JIT  can  be  set  up,  in  particular,  when  a 
Member  State's  investigations  into  criminal  offences  require  difficult  and  demanding 
investigations having links with other Member States or third countries. It can also be set 
up when a number of Member States are conducting investigations into criminal offences 
in  which  the  circumstances  of  the  case  necessitate  coordinated,  concerted  action  in  the 
Member States involved.  

JITs can be composed of the competent authorities of the Member States  as well as the 
competent  authorities of third countries (JIT members) or the  competent Union bodies, 
offices  and  agencies  such  as  Eurojust,  Europol  and  the  European  Anti-Fraud  Office 
(OLAF) (JIT participants). 

The  legal  basis  for  setting  up  a  JIT  are  Article  13  of  the  European  Union  (EU) 
Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters1 and Council Framework Decision 
2002/465/JHA  of  13 June 2002  on  joint  investigation  teams2.  Third  countries  can  be 
parties  in  JITs  if  the  legal  basis  allow  for  this.  For  example,  Article  20  of  the  Second 
Additional  Protocol  of  the  1959  Council  of  Europe  Convention3  and  Article  5  of  the 
Agreement  on  Mutual  Legal  Assistance  between  the  European  Union  and  the  United 
States of America4. 

JITs are one of the most successful tools for cross-border investigations and prosecutions 
in the EU. They enable direct cooperation and communication between judicial and law 
enforcement  authorities  of  several  States  to  organise  their  actions  and  investigations  to 
efficiently investigate cross-border cases. 

It has recently become clear that the speed and efficiency of the exchange between those 
involved  in  these  teams  could  be  considerably  enhanced  by  creating  a  dedicated  IT 
platform to support their functioning.  

The  second  evaluation  report  on  JITs5,  prepared  in  2018  by  the  Network  of  National 
Experts on Joint Investigation Teams (the JITs Network), a body established to support 
Member  States  and  share  best  practices  and  experience  in  the  area  of  JITs,  already 
indicated that the JITs’ work could be improved and sped up if supported by a dedicated 
IT  platform.  The  IT  platform  would  enable  those  involved  in  JITs  to  securely 
communicate  among  themselves,  and  share  information  and  evidence.  The  Digital 
Criminal Justice study6 confirmed the findings of that report and recommended creating 
an IT platform for JITs to ensure that JITs function more efficiently and more securely.  

1  OJ C 197, 12.7.2000, p. 3–23. 

2  OJ L 162, 20.6.2002, p. 1–3. 

3  CET No 182. 

4  OJ L 181, 19.7.2003, p. 34. 

5 

6 

https://www.eurojust.europa.eu/sites/default/files/Partners/JITs/2018-02_2nd-Report-JIT-
Evaluation_EN.pdf 

https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/e38795b5-f633-11ea-991b-01aa75ed71a1 

2 

 
                                                 
Following  these  findings,  the  Commission  announced  plans7  to  propose  legislation 
establishing  a  dedicated  ‘collaboration  platform  to  support  the  functioning  of  Joint 
Investigation Teams’ (the platform). 

Following up on the above research, the European Commission has announced its plans 
to  come  up  with  a  legal  proposal  concerning  creation  of  a  dedicated  “collaboration 
platform  to  support  the  functioning  of  Joint  Investigation  Teams”  (hereinafter  “the 
platform”). This proposal has been announced in the Commission’s Communication on 
the digitalisation of justice in the EU8, as part of a broader initiative to enable the secure 
electronic  communication and exchange of information  and documents between  courts, 
national authorities, and justice and home affairs agencies. It also constitutes part of the 
digitalisation  of  justice  package  contained  in  the  Commission’s  work  programme  for 
2021 under the heading ‘A New Push for European Democracy’9. 

This  analytical  document  has  been  prepared  in  order  to  support  and  accompany  the 
above-mentioned  legal  proposal.  The  data  contained  in  this  document  has  been  mainly 
obtained  from  evaluation  reports  on  JITs  prepared  by  the  JITs  Network,  the  Digital 
Criminal  Justice  study  and  through  a  targeted  consultation  process  involving  various 
stakeholders involved in JITs. 

2.  PROBLEM DEFINITION 

Although  JITs  have  proven  to  be  a  successful  tool  for  cross-border  investigations  and 
prosecutions  in  the  EU,  practice  shows  that  they  have  been  facing  several  technical 
difficulties  preventing them  from  being efficient  in  their daily work  and from fostering 
their operations. The main difficulties concern secure electronic exchange of information 
and evidence (including large files), secure electronic communication, as well as a joint 
daily management of a JIT. 

7  Commission  Communication  on  the  Digitalisation  of  justice  in  the  European  Union  -  A  toolbox  of 

opportunities, COM (2020) 710 final, 2.12.2020. 

8  Commission  Communication  on  the  Digitalisation  of  justice  in  the  European  Union  -  A  toolbox  of 

opportunities, COM (2020) 710 final, 2.12.2020. 

9  Commission Communication Commission Work Programme 2021, A Union of vitality in a world of 

fragility, COM(2020) 690 final. 

3 

 
                                                 
2.1 Unsecure and too slow exchange of evidence and information  

The problem 

Exchange  of  information  and  evidence  among  those  involved  in  JITs  is  of  crucial 
importance for successful  investigations. So  far, the landscape for this  exchange, if not 
done  in  person,  is  fractured  as  all  actors  rely  on  their  systems  that  usually  are  not 
interoperable. There is no single system available, to which the JIT members and, when 
involved,  the  JIT  participants  could  connect,  allowing  for  a  properly  functioning 
electronic  flow  of  voluminous  information  and  evidence,  e.g.  content  of  hard  drives  or 
CD-ROMs  containing  documents,  images  and  videos.  The  main  requirements  for  such 
electronic flows are security of the exchanged data, widespread access to the electronic 
means of data transportation and the possibility to transfer large files (files bigger than 50 
MB). Unfortunately, in the current context, judicial authorities have a major problem as 
regards each of the above requirements. 

The problem drivers 

Until now, there is no unified technical solution, which would allow judicial authorities 
to  exchange large  amounts of data in  a secure and  reliable manner. While some secure 
information exchange channels already exist (the Secure Information Exchange Network 
Application  -  SIENA  -  for  Europol,  and  a  secure  Eurojust  e-mail  mechanism),  judicial 
authorities rarely use them, either because they are not widely accessible or because they 
do not offer appropriate functionalities. 

The effects of the problem 

A direct consequence of the above problem is that national authorities involved in JITs 
are very often required to apply one of the following scenarios: 

 

to  exchange  information  and  evidence  about  ongoing  investigations  by  non-secured 
emails (via the internet) and thus prone to interception, or hacking;  

4 

 
 
 

 

to  share  the  information  and  evidence  in  non-digital  ways  (e.g.  during  face  to  face 
meetings, or using registered snail post services); 

to  refrain  from  transmitting  data  to  the  other  JIT  members  and  participants  until  a 
physical meeting takes place. 

Consequently, the documents exchanged are at risk of being leaked, which could expose 
all  national  investigations  associated  with  a  given  JIT.  In  addition,  organisation  of  in 
person meetings or usage of regular postal services creates additional costs and lengthens 
the whole process making the JIT cooperation costly and ineffective. 

2.2 Unsecure and ineffective tools/channels used for the communication 

The problem 

A need to communicate with other members and participants of a given JIT is critical for 
the  proper  functioning  of  the  JIT.  The  investigators  must  share  information  among 
themselves, be it through short messages, longer email-like messages and/or audio/video 
conferencing calls. It is not possible to manage a JIT or to coordinate its specific actions 
without  efficient  communication  tool(s)  guaranteeing  security  and  confidentiality.  In 
practical  terms,  for  every  JIT,  the  Member  States  need  to  agree  on  procedures  and 
technological  solutions  to  support  the  activities  of  the  individual  JIT.  In  addition,  the 
investigators  are  often  forced  to  use  non-secure  communication  channels,  such  as  the 
most popular instant messaging and video calls commercial tools or regular emails over 
the  internet.  It  is  mainly  due  to  their  ease  to  use  and  convenient  functionalities,  in 
particular when quick communication is compulsory during action days. It also happens 
very often that physical  meetings are organised at Eurojust in order to  coordinate work 
and plan next steps of the JIT. 

The problem drivers 

The problem derives from the fact that there is no unified tool at present that would allow 
various judicial authorities constituting a JIT and coming from various Member States, to 
efficiently and securely communicate cross-border, either through text, audio or video.  

The effects of the problem 

The usage of non-secure communication tools results in non-compliance with the highest 
security standards (e.g. to ensure that data about national criminal cases is not stored on 
servers of private entities, often outside of Europe) and exposes sensitive data which is 
prone to interception or hacking. The fact that physical coordination meetings have to be 
organised represents a disadvantage in terms of cost and time spent on their organisation. 
The whole JIT cooperation becomes more time consuming and more costly. 

2.3 Difficulties concerning daily management of a JIT 

The problem 

There  are several  activities concerning  the  daily  management of a JIT, which  currently 
cannot  be  carried  out  in  a  fully  effective  and  collective  manner.  JIT  members  and 
participants have no common tool at hand that would allow them to plan their activities 
(also  from  a  distance)  with  a  dedicated  calendar,  compare  their  JIT  related  agendas, 

5 

 
 
 
coordinate  parallel  activities  and,  where  feasible,  divide  JIT  related  tasks,  or 
collaboratively  edit  or  machine  translate  relevant  documents.  Especially  where  third 
countries  come  into  play  and  the  exchange  of  larger  files  is  needed,  those  involved  in 
JITs face technical challenges. The lack of traceability of evidence might pose difficulties 
as well. The above issues concern both the operational and post operational phases of a 
JIT as well as various administrative processes that accompany them. 

The problem drivers 

The above problems are caused by the lack of a standard technical means, which could 
be  used  by  all  JIT  members  and  participants,  including  third  countries,  in  order  to 
manage  the  daily  activities of  a JIT. These activities require a unified tool  allowing  all 
stakeholders involved in a given JIT to cooperate in a collaborative manner. Some of the 
Member  States  use  various  national  tools.  However,  due  to  the  cross-border  dimension 
and specificity of JITs, these tools  cannot  offer all functionalities required to  manage a 
JIT.  The  tools  can  also  not  be  used  by  other  Member  States  in  a  cross-border 
(multilingual)  environment.  Obviously,  there  is  also  no  dedicated  platform  at  EU  level 
that  could  be  used  by  all  parties  involved  in  JITs.  Consequently,  the  current  ways  of 
coordinating the daily work of JITs do not make use of the possibilities offered by digital 
technologies. 

The effects of the problem 

Because of the above problems, coordination of investigations carried out by the JITs is 
time consuming and very often requires offline means, e.g. face-to-face meetings having 
an  impact  on  the  financial  side  of  every  JIT.  Meeting  and  exchanging  information  and 
evidence more frequently in a secure online environment would enable the JIT members 
and  participants  to  enhance  their  cooperation.  The  process  of  agreeing  on  cooperation 
procedures, which needs to happen for each individual JIT and for all activities that need 
a  coordinated  approach,  is  also  time  consuming  and  causes  an  administrative  burden. 
These aspects get even more complicated in case of participation of third  countries that 
might sometimes not be a direct neighbouring country. 

There  are  also  other  repercussions:  for  instance,  the  lack  of  a  tool  to  properly  trace 
evidence exchanged among all members of a JIT might cause problems during the court 
proceedings.  

3.  LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND ADDED VALUE 

3.1 Legal basis 

The legal basis for the proposal is Article 82(1)(d) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the 
European  Union  (TFEU).  In  line  with  that  Article,  the  EU  has  the  power  to  adopt 
measures  to  ease  cooperation  between  judicial  or  equivalent  authorities  of  the  Member 
States in relation to proceedings in criminal matters.  

3.2 Subsidiarity 

According to the principle of subsidiarity laid down in Article 5(3) of the TEU, action at 
EU level should be taken only when the aims envisaged cannot be achieved sufficiently 
by  Member  States  alone  and  can  therefore,  by  reason  of  the  scale  or  effects  of  the 

6 

 
proposed action, be better achieved by the EU. Furthermore, there is a need to match the 
nature and intensity of a given measure to the identified problem. 

The creation of a common Union wide IT platform to support JITs, allowing the Member 
States  to  make  use  of  a  technology  solution  that  does  not  depend  on  the  national  IT 
infrastructure, can neither be achieved unilaterally at Member State level nor bilaterally 
between  the  Member  States.  It  is  by  its  nature  a  task  to  be  undertaken  at  EU  level. 
Therefore, it is also for the Union to establish a legally binding instrument to create such 
a system and to lay down the conditions under which that system will function. 

4  OBJECTIVES 

The  general  objective  of  the  proposal  is  to  provide  technological  support  to  those 
involved  in  JITs  to  increase  the  efficiency  and  effectiveness  of  their  cross-border 
investigations and prosecutions.  

The specific objectives of the proposal are to: 

1.  Ensure that the members and participants of JITs can more easily share information 

and evidence collected in the course of the JIT activities. 

2.  Ensure  that  the  members  and  participants  of  JITs  can  more  easily  and  more  safely 

communicate with each other in the context of the JIT activities. 

3.  Facilitate the joint daily management of a JIT, including planning and coordination of 
parallel  activities,  enhanced  traceability  of  shared  evidence  and  coordination  with 
third  countries,  especially  where  physical  meetings  are  too  expansive  or  time 
consuming. 

5  THE PREFERRED OPTION 

In order to address the problems defined in section 2 and to achieve the objectives listed 
in  section  4,  a  dedicated  IT  platform  consisting  of  both  centralised  and  decentralised 
components – the JITs collaboration platform – is proposed. 

The platform would be a highly secure online collaboration tool aiming to facilitate the 
exchanges and cooperation within JITs throughout their duration. The platform would be 
accessible to all actors involved in JIT proceedings, i.e. Member States’ representatives  
fulfilling the role of members of a given JIT, representatives of third countries invited to 
cooperate  in  the  context  of  a  given  JIT,  and  the  competent  Union  bodies,  offices  and 
agencies such as Eurojust, Europol, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and OLAF. 
The key functions, described in detail below, will ease electronic communication, allow 
information  and  evidence  to  be  shared,  including  large  amounts  of  data,  ensure 
traceability of evidence as well as planning and coordination of JIT operations. 

The design, development, technical management and maintenance of the platform would 
be entrusted to the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-
Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA), which is the 
Union agency in charge of large-scale IT systems in the in the Area of Freedom, Security 
and Justice.  

7 

 
 
 
Assuming  that  the  proposal  establishing  the  platform  is  adopted  in  2023,  the  platform 
would be operational as of beginning of 2026.  

5.1 Horizontal aspects 

The platform would be of a voluntary nature, so the authorities involved in JITs would 
have full discretion in deciding whether they want to use the platform for a specific JIT. 
In  addition,  the  JIT  members  and  participants  would  be  free  to  use  other  tools  while 
making use of the platform. For instance, if they decide to pass on evidence in person at a 
working meeting or through SIENA.  

The platform’s architecture would enable the creation of (non-interoperable) sessions in 
silo, the ‘JIT collaboration spaces,’ specific to each JIT and open only for the duration of 
the JIT. There would be no cross-cutting functions or any interactions between different 
JITs hosted by the platform. 

The  platform  would  support  the  functioning  of  JITs  throughout  their  operational  and 
post-operational phases. In practical terms, an individual JIT collaboration space could be 
created  on  the  platform  as  soon  as  all  establishing  parties  sign  the  JIT  agreement.  The 
space would be closed following the end of the evaluation process.  

Access  to  the platform  would be  granted through regular  computers (desktops, laptops, 
etc.) as well as through mobile devices. Its interface would be made available in all EU 
languages. 

From  a  technical  perspective,  the  platform  would  be  composed  of  two  distinctive 
elements, (i) a centralised information system, which would allow for a temporary central 
storage  of  data,  and  (ii)  a  communication  software,  a  mobile  application,  which  would 
enable communication and local communication data storage. 

From  a  security  perspective,  while  the  platform  will  operate  over  the  internet  to  offer 
flexible means  of accessing it, the  focus  will be  to  guarantee confidentiality by design. 
This will be achieved by using robust end-to-end encryption algorithms to encrypt data in 
transit or at rest (i.e. stored on a physical storage). This feature is crucial for gaining the 
trust of JITs practitioners who deal with sensitive data and must be reassured regarding 
any risk of uncontrolled disclosure. In addition, appropriate multi-step identification and 
authentication  mechanisms  will  be  put  in  place  to  ensure  that  only  authorised  JIT 
members and participants have access to the platform. 

When  designing  the  JITs  collaboration  platform,  eu-LISA  should  ensure  technical 
interoperability with SIENA. 

5.2 Key functions 

The platform would offer the following key functionalities: 

  secure,  untraceable  communication  stored  locally  at  the  devices  of  the  users, 
including a communication tool offering an instant messaging system, a chat feature, 
audio/video-conferencing and a function replacing standard emails; 

  exchange  of 

through  an 
upload/download system designed to store the data centrally only for the limited time 

information  and  evidence, 

large  files, 

including 

8 

 
 
needed  to  technically  transfer  the  data.  As  soon  as  the  data  are  downloaded  by  all 
addresses, it would be automatically deleted from the platform. 

  evidence  traceability  –  an  advanced  logging  mechanism  logging  a  trail  of  who  did 
what  and  when  regarding  all  evidence  shared  through  the  platform,  and  supporting 
the need to ensure admissibility of evidence before a court. 

5.3 Other functions 

Apart from the above-mentioned key functions, the platform is also planned to offer the 
following: 

 

functions  related  to  daily  management  of  the  JIT  during  its  operational  and  post-
operational (evaluation) phase, i.e.: 

o  a JIT dashboard containing general information about JIT, the JIT agreement, 

overall contact details of the JIT members and participants, etc.; 

o  calendars/planners facilitating planning activities; 
o  a  task  management  module  allowing  to  assign,  monitor  and  follow-up  on 

various tasks within the JIT. 

  support for the administrative and financial processes, i.e.: 

o  a JIT funding dashboard providing for information about deadlines, awarded 
funding,  budget  overview,  etc.,  pertaining  to  JIT  financing  obtained  from 
Eurojust and/or Europol; 

o  upload/download of administrative documents; 
o  a documents repository; 
o  an administrative reporting module; 
o  access 

to  various  documents,  e.g. 

leaflets, 
guidelines,  model  JIT  agreements,  etc.  -  covering  all  phases  of  a  JIT, 
developed by the Network of JITs national experts and used on a regular basis 
by those involved in JITs. 

templates,  best  practices, 

  various  technical  capabilities  supporting  operational  and  administrative  processes, 

e.g.: 

o  an automatic translation service; 
o  collaborative editing of documents, e.g. reports of meetings or administrative 
documents  like  press  releases,  memos,  common  requests  to  third  countries, 
etc.; 
the  integration  with  the  JITs-related  electronic  services  already  hosted  at 
Eurojust  and  managed  by  the  JIT  Secretariat10,  i.e.  JITs  Funding,  JITs 
Evaluation  and  JITs  Restricted  Area,  allowing  relevant  information  and 
documents  to  be  obtained  without  needing  to  connect  separately  to  the 
platform and the services offered by the JIT Secretariat. 

o 

10  Since  the  establishment  of  the  JITs  Network,  the  JIT  Secretariat  supports  its  work  by  organising 
annual  meetings,  trainings,  collecting  and  analysing  the  JIT  evaluation  reports  and  managing  the 
Eurojust’s JIT funding programme. Since 2011, the JIT Secretariat is hosted by Eurojust as a separate 
unit. 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
5.4 Access rights 

Particular attention will be given to the platform’s access rights. The platform’s starting 
principle  will  be  that  the  management  of  access  rights  rests  with  the  JIT  space 
administrator(s)  from  the  JITs  participating  Member  States.  They  will  be  in  charge  of 
granting access, during the operational and post-operational phases of the JIT, to:  

 

representatives of the other Member States participating in the JIT; 

 

representatives of third countries which are also members of a given JIT; 

 

representatives of Eurojust, Europol, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, OLAF 
and other competent Union bodies, offices and agencies; and 

 

representatives of the JIT Secretariat. 

In addition, the JIT space administrator(s) will have the option to limit access to parts of 
information and evidence only to those who are concerned by it, including case-by-case 
granular  access  permissions.  This  restriction  would  concern  all  users  of  the  JITs 
collaboration  platform,  be  it  the  Member  States,  third  countries,  the  competent  Union 
bodies, offices and agencies or the JIT Secretariat. 

It must be underlined that eu-LISA, as the hosting provider, will not have access to the 
data stored or exchanged through the platform. It will also not be involved in the access 
rights  management, except  for the initial  process of  granting access  rights to  JIT space 
administrator(s)  based  on  the  signed  JIT  agreement.  The  platform’s  architecture  must 
offer sufficient guarantees for this to happen.  

The access rights of the competent Union bodies, offices and agencies should be defined 
in  view  of  the  operational  support  they  provide  to  JITs,  covering  all  steps  of  the 
proceedings, from the moment of the signed JIT agreement until the end of the evaluation 
phase. On the latter, the platform must provide for access rights for the JIT Secretariat, 
which plays an important role in that process. The JIT Secretariat could also be in charge 
of the platform’s administrative support, including access rights management, as long as 
the JIT space administrator(s) of each individual JIT envisage such a role. 

Keeping  in  mind  the  increasing  role  of  third  countries  in  the  successful  prosecution  of 
serious organised crime and terrorism, the platform will also be available to them, if they 
are part of a JIT agreement. However, specific access rights will depend on their role in a 
given JIT and should be set out by the JIT space administrator(s) for each respective JIT. 
To  guarantee  the  respect  for  fundamental  rights,  including  data  protection,  and  in  line 
with  the  currently  applicable  procedures,  before  granting  access  to  a  specific  third 
country, the JIT space administrator(s) will need to thoroughly assess the data protection 
aspects against the applicable rules, notably Directive 2016/68011. 

11  Directive  (EU)  2016/680  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  27  April  2016  on  the 
protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities 
for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the 
execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data. 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
6  STAKEHOLDER VIEWS 

Whereas  no  public  consultations  were  conducted  due  to  a  specific  character  of  the 
proposal, the Commission has carried out an extensive targeted consultation campaign to 
ensure  that  all  stakeholders  concerned  have  an  opportunity  to  express  their  views.  The 
campaign has involved: 

  prosecutors, judges and law enforcement representatives from the Member States; 

  Member States’ national authorities; 

  experts of the JITs Network 

  academics and practitioners in EU criminal law; 

  data protection experts, 

 

representatives of Eurojust, Europol and OLAF. 

Stakeholders  have  had  an  opportunity  to  voice  their  opinion  through  bilateral  contacts, 
expert meetings, online surveys and written contributions. 

The targeted  consultations organised between March  and July 2021,  gathered views on 
the platform related elements of the Digital Criminal Justice study, functions that are to 
be covered by the future platform, as well as the applicable data protection regime(s). 

First  and  foremost,  all  stakeholders  welcomed  the  initiative  and  provided  a  positive 
opinion  about  establishment  of  a  platform  as  a  much-needed  step  towards  the 
digitalisation of JITs cooperation. 

As far as cross-cutting issues are concerned, most stakeholders focused on: 

 

 

 

the simplicity of the platform so that it can be used by all practitioners concerned – a 
too  cumbersome  tool  with  complex  workflows  could  create  problems  for  the  users 
and would be a main reason for not using it; 

the prevention of an impact on the substantial or legal requirements of investigators’ 
work, so the proper functioning of a JIT is not jeopardised by the platform; 

the  security  of  the  platform  –  the  level  of  protection  is  of  crucial  importance  so 
practitioners can be confident that outcomes of their national  investigations that are 
shared through the platform would not be disclosed in an uncontrolled way. 

Some discussions have also taken place on the entity in charge of the platform’s  future 
development and management. The following scenarios were considered: 

  creation of the platform  by the Commission and making it available to the Member 

States to implement when needed within their own infrastructure; 

  creation of the platform and its establishment at the Commission; 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  creation  of  the  platform  and  its  establishment  at  one  of  the  JHA  agencies  directly 
involved  in  supporting  the  Member  State’s  authorities  in  combating  crime  (e.g. 
Eurojust); 

  creation of the platform and its establishment at eu-LISA. 

All  stakeholders  consulted,  including  Eurojust  and  Europol,  supported  the  option  to 
entrust the platform’s development and maintenance to eu-LISA. They all recognised eu-
LISA’s expertise in the area as well as its experience with large-scale IT systems meeting 
state-of-the-art security standards. Also, this  option takes into account, that JITs can be 
conducted without the financial support or operational involvement of either Eurojust or 
Europol. 

Undoubtedly, the two key functions of the platform debated the most during the targeted 
consultations  were  a  possible  coverage  by  the  platform  of  a  JIT  set-up  process  and  the 
central storage. 

Administrative process to set-up a JIT 

The starting point for this discussion was the final report of the Digital Criminal Justice 
study,  which  recommends  that  the  JITs  collaboration  platform  covers  also  the  pre-
operational phase of JITs, i.e. the administrative process to set up a JIT. There are many 
advantages of such a solution, including: 

 

the possibility to securely and efficiently exchange documents  cross-border, leading 
to the signature of a JIT agreement; 

  a machine translations function; 

  an inventory of the procedures to be followed during the JIT set-up process; 

  support for various electronic signatures. 

However,  it  has  been  established  during  the  stakeholder  consultations  that  in  most 
Member  States,  actors  participating  in  the  JIT  set-up  process  are  completely  different 
from those who are members of JITs once they are established. Moreover, the decision to 
join a JIT is very often taken by someone who will not necessarily be a member of the 
JIT  itself,  e.g.  the  Prosecutor  General  or  even  the  Minister  of  Justice.  Therefore,  the 
inclusion  of  the  administrative  JIT  set-up  process  in  the  platform  would  require  a 
complete departure from the above-described model of isolated JIT spaces, as well as a 
separate access rights management workflow. Such a scenario would heavily complicate 
the envisaged easy-to-use concept of the platform and would require implementation of 
rather incomprehensible and time-consuming administrative workflows.  

Therefore, following the targeted consultations, the recommended  scenario would be to 
cover  the  JIT  set-up  process  within  the  e-Evidence  Digital  Exchange  System  (eEDES) 
that is currently being implemented by the Commission. This solution would on the one-
hand cover administrative needs of the stakeholders and, on the other, not complicate the 
daily functioning of the future platform. 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Central storage 

One  of  the  most  crucial  functions  of  the  platform  will  be  to  exchange  information  and 
evidence  among  the  JIT  members  and  other  participants.  That  function  could  be 
implemented in three different ways: 

1.  A plain upload/download function - data would be uploaded on the platform by one 
member/participant of the JIT and would be stored centrally only until the other JIT 
member(s)/participant(s) download(s) it. 

2.  A temporary flexible storage – in addition to the plain upload/download, data could 
be  optionally  stored  at  the  platform  for  some  period  of  time,  e.g.  one  week,  one 
month,  etc.  The  member/participant  uploading  the  data  would  define  duration  and 
access rights. 

3.  A  permanent  storage  –  all  exchanged  data  would  be  stored  throughout  the  JIT’s 
lifespan  –  precise  access  rights 
the 
to 
member/participant uploading the data. This option would constitute a "common JIT 
case-file". 

the  data  would  be  defined  by 

Though JITs allow for the direct communication, cooperation and coordinated action, the 
underlying  national  investigations  remain  separate  and  independent.  The  possibility  to 
create a common case-file to supplement national investigations is not envisaged by the 
current  legal  framework.  Therefore,  almost  all  stakeholders  rejected  the  permanent 
storage  option  (option  3).  Indeed,  the  creation  of  such  a  common  case-file  would  raise 
serious  questions  related  to  criminal  procedures  in  certain  Member  States  since  not  all 
JIT information is necessarily shared among all  members of the JIT. Investigators from 
one country often do not need access to all relevant information from the investigation of 
the other country participating in the same JIT. 

Whereas the other two options had more or less the same degree of support among the 
practitioners, a preferred option is to equip the platform with the plain upload/download 
function (option 1). This function would prevent platform’s users to view the data before 
downloading it. It would also prevent any central storage of exchanged data, i.e. the data 
would be stored centrally until it is downloaded by the other party, but for not more than 
four weeks. The main reason for that has been a concern that any storage of operational 
data, going beyond a technical requirement to send it from one party to another, would 
lead  to  at  least  a  temporary  common  file  and  to  possible  follow–up  questions.  For 
example,  access  requests  to  that  file.  However,  this  instrument  should  not  change  the 
separate investigations and separate national files, to which the respective national rules 
still apply. 

Although  the  lack  of  central  storage  would  prevent  including  in  the  platform  various 
additional technical functions, e.g. an interface with a crime analysis tool, a search tool, a 
text to speech converter, a speech to text converter, Optical Character Recognition, etc., 
stakeholders took the view that such functions would duplicate the tools already provided 
by  other  agencies  (primarily  by  Europol).  It  also  must  be  underlined  that  even  in  the 
absence of a central storage of information and evidence, some basic information would 
be stored centrally to allow the JIT members to trace the exchanged data. 

13 

 
 
 
7  ASSESSMENT OF THE PREFERRED OPTION 

The preferred option is discussed and assessed hereunder against the following criteria: 

  effectiveness: measured against the general and specific objectives; 

 

technical and operational feasibility; 

  efficiency: the total costs incurred for eu-LISA, Eurojust and for the Member States 
as  well  as  the  administrative  costs  incurred  for  the  Member  States  and  the 
Commission; 

 

impact on fundamental rights: in particular on data protection; 

 

information control and security; 

  proportionality. 

7.1 Effectivenes 

General objective: to provide technological support to those involved in JITs to increase 
the efficiency and effectiveness of their cross-border investigations and prosecutions. 

tools, 

through  exchange  of  data  mechanism, 

The  establishment  of  the  platform  is  expected  to  render  cooperation  within  JITs  more 
efficient  and  effective.  All  future  functionalities  of  the  platform,  starting  with  the 
communication 
to  collaborative 
management  of  JITs,  are  intended  to  save  time  and  cost  of  the  JIT  members  and 
participants.  Although  voluntary  in  nature,  it  is  anticipated  that  those  involved  in  JITs 
will quickly realise the platform’s added value and systematically use it in cross-border 
cases.  The  platform  would  allow  speeding  up  the  flow  of  information  among  its  users, 
increase  security  of  the  exchanged  data  as  well  as  enhance  transparency.  In  addition, 
impacts on simplification and administrative burdens are anticipated. Consequently, more 
efficient  functioning  of  JITs  would  improve  overall  collaboration  between  Member 
States in investigating and prosecuting cross-border crime. 

Specific objectives:  

  To  ensure  that  that  the  members  and  participants  of  JITs  can  more  easily  share 

information and evidence collected in the course of the JIT activities. 

The envisaged upload/download mechanism for the exchange of operational information 
and evidence, including large files, would be a crucial step forward towards a secure and 
unified process to exchange data collected by the JIT members in the course of the JIT 
activities and at the same time allow for the traceability of the exchanged evidence. The 
data would flow between JIT members using a secure channel and a highly secure central 
data storage, designed to keep the data stored centrally only for a limited period of time 
necessary  for  technical  reasons.  The  exchanged  data  would  be  properly  encrypted  in 
transit and at  rest.  The  option  would facilitate exchanges of large amounts  of data, e.g. 
content of hard drives or CD-ROMs, which currently cannot be efficiently transferred. 

  To ensure that the members and participants of JITs can more easily and more safely 

communicate with each other in the context of the JIT activities. 

14 

 
A set of communication tools, consisting of an instant messaging system, a chat feature, 
audio/video-conferencing  and  a  functionality  replacing  regular  emails,  would  clearly 
increase the safety and effectiveness of the communication among the JIT members and 
participants.  Since  all  the  above  features  would  guarantee  a  top  level  of  security,  the 
safety  of  the  exchanged  data  would  increase  radically  compared  to  the  currently  used 
non-secure  communication  channels,  such  as  the  most  popular  instant  messaging  and 
video call commercial tools. The possibility to have a single set of communication tools, 
available in one place for all members and participants of JITs, would undoubtedly foster 
the communication process and improve the efficiency of the exchanges. In addition, the 
platform could also provide for a speedy process to book online and offline meetings. 

  To facilitate the joint daily management of a JIT, including planning and coordination 
of parallel activities, enhanced traceability of shared evidence and coordination with 
third  countries,  especially  where  physical  meetings  are  too  expansive  or  time 
consuming. 

Thanks  to  the  platform,  all  JIT  members  and  participants  would  be  able  to  jointly 
cooperate  and  manage  the  JIT  through  one  unified  IT  tool.  Activities  like  planning, 
coordination of parallel activities, task management, collaborative editing of documents, 
or machine translation of documents could be carried out in a much more efficient way 
than  it  is  currently  the  case.  In  addition,  exchange  and  communication  with  third 
countries,  especially  when  they  are  not  direct  neighbouring  countries,  would  be 
facilitated  because  of  one  standard  technical  mean  that  could  be  used  by  all  entities 
involved in a JIT. 

7.2 Technical and operational feasibility 

The envisaged solution is fully feasible from a technical and operational  point of view. 
The platform’s implementation would be based on a commercially available off-the-shelf 
product,  customised  in  order  to  provide  all  required  functionalities.  The  so-called 
software as a service (SaaS) model would be used. It is a software licensing and delivery 
model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. The 
platform would offer a collection of services such as collaborative tools with workflow 
capabilities, decentralised secure communication tools, upload/download mechanism and 
logging  capabilities.  The  users  would  be  accessing  the  platform  through  the  internet 
using  the  “EU  Login”  authentication  service  while  their  access  rights  in  the  platform 
would be defined following a flexible fine grained role definition at the level of every JIT 
collaboration space.  Data in  the platform,  categorised as sensitive not  classified, would 
be  managed  under  strict  security  requirements  including  data  encryption  in  both  transit 
and while temporarily stored at server side.  

The platform  would  guarantee  high availability since it would be operational  from  two 
geographically diverse locations, namely eu-LISA’s operational site in Strasbourg/France 
and the back-up site in Sankt Johann/Austria. 

7.3 Efficiency  

Costs (set-up and recurring) 

The establishment of the platform is envisaged to incur the following costs: 

  development of the platform – the one-off cost incurred for eu-LISA; 

15 

 
 
 

technical maintenance and operation of the platform – the recurring cost incurred for 
eu-LISA; 

  development of the necessary technical adaptations of the relevant IT systems hosted 
at  Eurojust, i.e.  JITs  Funding, JITs Evaluation and JITs Restricted Area  to  partially 
integrate them with the platform – the one-off cost incurred for Eurojust; 

 

technical maintenance and operations concerning on the adaptations of the IT systems 
hosted at Eurojust - the recurring cost incurred for Eurojust; 

  administrative  support  to  the  platform’s  users  on  behalf  of  the  JIT  space 

administrator(s) - the recurring cost incurred for Eurojust (the JIT Secretariat). 

As  far  as  Member  States’  access  to  the  platform  is  concerned,  no  technical  costs  are 
envisaged because of the web-based nature of the centralised component of the platform. 
It  would  not  require  any  adaptations  of  the  national  technical  infrastructure.  The  same 
applies to the communication software, which would simply need to be downloaded on 
each device of the JIT platform’s users. Access to the platform for the competent Union 
bodies, offices and agencies would be driven by the same principles and would not incur 
any costs for them. 

The costs for eu-LISA and Eurojust are explained in detail below. They would be borne 
by  the  Union  general  budget  and  would  need  to  be  reflected  in  the  budget  of  both 
agencies. The costs for eu-LISA apply to hosting of the platform in its operational site in 
Strasbourg/France  and  the  back-up  site  in  Sankt  Johann/Austria.  The  costs  cover  the 
period between 2024, when the proposal is expected to be adopted, and 2027, when the 
current EU's multiannual financial framework (MFF) finishes.  

eu-LISA costs 

eu-LISA would require the following financial resources to cover the costs related to the 
activities to be performed: 

Year 
2024 

Year 
2025 

Year 
2026 

Year 
2027 

TOTAL 2024-
2027 

3.000 

5.400 

8.400 

1.700 

1.700 

3.400 

3.000 

5.400 

1.700 

1.700 

11.800 

Phase 1 – 
development of 
the JITs 
collaboration 
platform  

Phase 2 - 
maintainance and 
operation of the 
JITs collaboration 
platform 

TOTAL (EUR 
million) 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
eu-LISA would also require the following human resources: 

Year 
2024 

Year 
2025 

Year 
2026 

Year 
2027 

TOTAL FTEs 
per type 

Temporary agents 
(AD grades) 

Contractual staff 

4 

4 

2 

TOTAL FTEs 

8 

2 

10 

The  total  estimated  number  of  resources  is  ten  (10)  FTEs  (2  CA  and  8  AD).  Eight  (8) 
FTEs  combining  expertise  in  IT  Architecture,  Testing,  Security  &  Data  Protection, 
Project  &  Programme Management  and  Infrastructure Management would work on the 
elaboration  of  specifications  as  well  as  on  all  analysis  and  design  tasks  in  cooperation 
with  the  contractors.  They  would  perform  the  necessary  assessments  (including  data 
protection, risk assessments etc.), would kick off all work packages and would ultimately 
conclude  this  part  of  implementation  with  the  production  of  the  detailed  design  of  the 
solution.  A  combination  of  transversal  resources  (procurement,  finance,  HR,  business 
relationship  &  stakeholders’  management)  is  also  included.  For  the  “build  &  run”  and 
“operations” phases, on top of the expertise described above eu-LISA would additionally 
require two (2) resources, adding expertise on product management, change management 
and release & deployment. Building a customised commercial off-the-shelf product with 
additional modules installed on desktops and smartphones would require a combination 
of  skills  in  the  area  of  infrastructure,  networking,  security  and  testing.  These  resources 
would  be  supplemented  by  1st  level  and  2nd  level  support  staff  in  order  to  properly 
monitor, operate and debug the platform, to meet the agreed level of the required service 
level agremeents and to respond to intense monitoring and security requirements.  

The costs related to the above staff expenditures are as follows: 

Year 
2024 

Year 
2025 

Year 
2026 

Year 
2027 

TOTAL 2024-
2027 

0.608 

1.216 

1.216 

1.216 

0.164 

0.164 

0.608 

1.216 

1.380 

1.380 

4.256 

0.328 

4.584 

Temporary agents 
(AD Grades) 

Contractual staff 

TOTAL (EUR 
million) 

Staff required for phase 1 - development of the JITs collaboration platform: 

Profile 

IT Officer - Architecture 

Test Management 

No. 

1 

1  

Type 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Network Management 

Security Management  

Infrastructure Management 

Programme and Project management  

System & Application Administration  

Transversal  Services  (Finance  &  Procurement 
and HR) 

Business  Relationship  & 
Management 

Stakeholders’ 

TOTAL 

1 

1 

0.5 

1 

0.5 

1 

1 

8 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

- 

Staff  required  for  phase  2  –  maintenance  and  operation  of  the  JITs  collaboration 
platform: 

Profile 

IT Officer - Architecture 

Test Management 

Release & Change Management  

Network Management 

Security Management  

1st level support operator (24x7)  

2nd level support administrator (24x7) 

Infrastructure Management 

Product/Service Owner 

System & Application Administration  

Transversal  Services  (Finance  &  Procurement 
and HR) 

Business  Relationship  & 
Management 

Stakeholders’ 

No. 

0.5 

0.5 

0.5  

1 

1 

1 

 1 

0.5 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Type 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

CA 

CA 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

TA (AD) 

TOTAL 

10 

- 

18 

 
 
 
Description of the profiles: 

IT Officer  –  Architecture  - to  work with  the contractors on the design documents 
and  validate  (at  solution  and  application  level).  Also,  to  be  involved  in  any 
business/use cases/architectural assessments and Implementing & Delegated Acts. 

Test Management – to test the overall solution 

Release  &  Change  Management  –  to  ensure  the  transition  management  including 
Software Development Lifecycle Development (SDLC) 

Network Management – to administer and to architect the network 

Security  Management  -  to  work  on  the  security  architecture  and  all  the  security 
controls/solution to be put in place, including data protection. 

1st  level  support  operator  (24x7)  –  to  ensure  the  1st  level  support  for  the  JITs 
collaboration platform, as per SLA 

2nd level support administrator (24x7) - to ensure the 2nd level support for the JITs 
collaboration platform, as per SLA 

Infrastructure Management – to be in charge of the infrastructure 

Programme and Project management - to take care of the coordination of the overall 
programme/project management 

Product/Service Owner – to be in charge of the product once operational 

System & Application Administration – to take care of the infrastructure (hardware, 
software, application) build & further administration 

Transversal  Services  (Finance  &  Procurement  and  HR)  –  to  work  on  horizontal 
aspects related with transversal services. 

Business  Relationship  &  Stakeholders’  Management  -  to  work  on  business 
requirements, the implementing acts, stakeholders’ meetings (e.g. Advisory Group, 
Expert Group, etc.). 

Eurojust costs 

The following costs pertain to Eurojust (including the work of the JIT Secretariat): 

  concerning  development  maintenance  and  operations  of  the  necessary  technical 
adaptations  of  relevant  IT  systems  hosted  at  Eurojust,  i.e.  JITs  Funding,  JITs 
Evaluation  and  JITs  Restricted  Area,  in  order  to  partially  integrate  them  with  the 
platform: 0.250 EUR million in 2025 (one-off) and 1 FTE – a technical profile – as of 
2025 onwards; 

  concerning  administrative  support  of  the  JIT  Secretariat  to  the  platform’s  users  on 

behalf of JIT space administrator(s): 2 FTEs as of 2026 onwards.  

19 

 
 
 
Administrative costs 

The impact on administrative costs would be rather limited. As far as the Member States 
are concerned, their administrative costs would be related to appointment of staff for the 
project’s  governing  bodies,  i.e.  the  Programme  Management  Board  and  the  Advisory 
Group.  Concerning  the  Commission, it  is  estimated  that  a  total  of  one  (1)  FTE  official 
staff would be required on a permanent basis to: 

 

represent  the  Commission  in  the  Programme  Management  Board  and  the  Advisory 
Group; 

  carry out collection of business requirements during the design phase of the project; 

  prepare and negotiate the required Implementing Acts; 

  manage meetings of the respective Expert Group; 

  assist eu-LISA throughout the development phase of the project; 

  monitor the platform’s operations and maintenance. 

7.4 Impact on fundamental rights 

No major impact on fundamental rights is expected, as the legal basis for the exchanges 
of  information  and  evidence  within  a  JIT  would  not  be  altered.  Nevertheless,  as 
explained  further  below,  the  preferred  option  would  respect  fundamental  rights  and 
freedoms enshrined, in particular, in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European 
Union12, including the right  to  protection of personal  data.  In this regard,  it would also 
respect  the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights  and Fundamental 
Freedoms,  the  International  Covenant  on  Civil  and  Political  Rights,  and  other  human 
rights obligations under international law. 

Since establishing the platform at EU level would imply the processing of personal data, 
it  must  be  subject  to  appropriate  data  protection  safeguards.  The  platform  would  fully 
comply  with  EU  data  protection  rules  on  the  legality  of  exchanging  information  and 
evidence. Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council would 
apply  to  the  processing  of  personal  data  by  competent  national  authorities  for  the 
purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or 
the execution of criminal penalties, including the safeguarding against and the prevention 
of threats to public security. Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and 
of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the 
processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies would 
also apply. These legal safeguards would need to dovetail with the alignment of the data 
protection  approach  for  JITs  with  the  current  data  protection  rules,  as  proposed  by  the 
Commission on 20 January 202113. 

12   OJ C 326, 26.10.2012, p. 391–407 

13  COM (2021) 21 Final - Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF 
THE  COUNCIL  amending  Directive  2014/41/EU,  as  regards  its  alignment  with  EU  rules  on  the 
protection of personal data. 

20 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
Concerning  the  centralised  component  of  the  platform,  i.e.  the  upload/download 
mechanism  allowing  temporarily  storing  of  the  operational  data  until  the  moment  it  is 
downloaded, the impact on data protection is considered to be limited, because: 

 

 

 

the personal data would be exchanged by a very limited group of individuals who are 
part of an isolated JIT collaboration space; 

the personal data would be stored centrally only for technical reasons and would be 
deleted right after it is downloaded by all addresses; 

the  retention  period  would  be  set  to  maximum  4  weeks  and  would  be  enforced 
automatically; 

  exchange  of  personal  data  would  be  limited  to  serve  the  purpose  for  which  it  was 

obtained; 

  eu-LISA would not  have any access  to  the data  and would fulfil the data  processor 

role; 

  a separate data controllership of each entity uploading the personal data, apart from 

third countries, would be warranted; 

  exchanges  of  personal  data  that  qualify  as  international  transfers  to  third  countries 
that are part of a  given  JIT would always require a legal  ground in  EU  or Member 
State law applicable to such transfers; 

  personal  data  uploaded  to  a  JIT  collaboration  space  by  third  countries  would  be 
within responsibility of a JIT space administrator who would need to verify such data 
before it can be downloaded by other users. 

7.5 Information control and security. 

Appropriate definition of the access right policy is crucial in the context of data integrity 
and security. Section 5.4 of this document specifies precisely the platform’s access right 
management  and  role  of  each  entity  involved  in  that  process.  Security  considerations, 
equally  important,  are  described  in  section  5.1  of  this  document.  They  would  be  taken 
into account during each phase of the development process as well as maintenance and 
operations,  so  by  no  means  the  exchanged  data  could  be  disclosed  in  an  uncontrolled 
way.  Concerning  the  logging  mechanisms,  eu-LISA  would  be  entrusted  with  a  task  to 
ensure  that  accessing  the  centralised  information  system  and  all  data  processing 
operations in the centralised information system are properly logged in for the purposes 
of monitoring data integrity and security, the lawfulness of the data processing as well as 
for the purposes of self-monitoring. 

7.6 Proportionality 

According to the principle of proportionality laid down in Article 5(4) of the TEU, there 
is a need to match the nature and intensity of a given measure to the identified problem.  

All  problems  described  in  this  document  require  EU-level  support  to  tackle  them 
effectively. Addressing the problems individually, for instance by creating separate tools 
tackling the communication  issue, the lack of data exchange mechanism,  etc. would be 

21 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
much  more  costly  and  would  create  an  administrative  burden  for  the  JITs.  The  Union 
wide  IT  platform  is  the  only  way  to  provide  JITs  with  a  common  modern  technical 
solution  that  will  allow  them  to  carry  out  their  cross-border  investigations  more 
efficiently. 

Therefore,  it  can  be  concluded  that  the  action  at  EU  level  to  establish  the  platform  to 
support  functioning  of  JITs  is  proportionate  to  the  identified  problems  that  JITs 
encounter in their daily work.  

8  IMPACT MONITORING 

Four years after the start of operations of the platform and every four years thereafter, the 
Commission shall conduct an overall evaluation of the system. The report established on 
this  basis  should  contain  feedback  of  the  platform’s  users,  an  assessment  of  the 
platform’s usage and a list of necessary recommendations. 

22