Council Decision of 14 December 2000 setting up a Provisional Judicial Cooperation Unit

Council Decision
of 14 December 2000
setting up a Provisional Judicial Cooperation Unit
(2000/799/JHA)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Articles 31 and 34(2)(c) thereof,
Having regard to the initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany and also to that of the Portuguese Republic, the French Republic, the Kingdom of Belgium and the Kingdom of Sweden(1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2),
Whereas:
(1) Articles 29 and 31 of the Treaty call in particular for closer cooperation within the European Union between the competent authorities in the fight against organised crime. In order to improve judicial cooperation between Member States, structural measures to facilitate the coordination of investigations and prosecutions relating to serious crime, particularly when it is organised, covering the territory of several Member States, need to be adopted at Union level without delay, and in particular a Provisional Judicial Cooperation Unit needs to be established.
(2) The Council has adopted Joint Action 98/428/JHA of 29 June 1998 concerning the creation of a European Judicial Network(3).
(3) The conclusions of the European Council meeting in Tampere on 15 and 16 October 1999, in particular paragraph 46 thereof, concern the setting up, before the end of 2001, of a unit (Eurojust) composed of prosecutors, judges or police officers of equivalent competence, to reinforce the fight against serious organised crime.
(4) The meetings of such a Provisional Unit should be supported by the infrastructure of the Council, as its experience would be of value in drawing up the instrument establishing Eurojust.
(5) Experience gained with the Provisional Unit will serve as a basis for drawing up the instrument establishing Eurojust,