Means of communication
1. Communication under this Regulation, including the exchange of the request form and other forms set out in the Annexes to this Regulation, the decision referred to in Article 11(1) of this Regulation and other documents referred to in Article 11(5) thereof, between the requesting authority and requested authority and with the involvement of central authorities, where a Member State has designated a central authority in accordance with Article 20 of this Regulation, as well as with Eurojust, shall be carried out in accordance with Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2844.
2. Article 7(1) and (2) and Articles 8 and 14 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2844 setting out rules on electronic signatures and electronic seals, legal effects of electronic documents and the protection of information transmitted shall apply to the communication transmitted through the decentralised IT system.
3. Consultations under Article 11(7) and Article 14 between the requesting authority and the requested authority and with the involvement of central authorities, where a Member State has designated a central authority in accordance with Article 20, as well as with Eurojust, may be carried out using any appropriate means of communication, including through the decentralised IT system.
Establishment of a decentralised IT system
1. By 8 January 2027, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts to establish the decentralised IT system for the purposes of this Regulation, setting out the following:
(a)
the technical specifications for the methods of communication by electronic means for the purposes of the decentralised IT system;
(b)
the technical specifications for communication protocols;
(c)
the information security objectives and relevant technical measures ensuring minimum information security standards and a high level of cybersecurity for the processing and communication of information within the decentralised IT system;
(d)
the minimum availability objectives and possible related technical requirements for the services provided by the decentralised IT system;
(e)
digital procedural standards as defined in Article 3, point (9), of Regulation (EU) 2022/850.
2. The implementing acts referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 31(2).
Reference implementation software
1. The Commission shall be responsible for the creation, accessibility, maintenance and development of reference implementation software which Member States may choose to apply as their back-end system instead of a national IT system. The creation, maintenance and development of the reference implementation software shall be financed from the general budget of the Union.
2. Eurojust shall be able to make use of the reference implementation software referred to in paragraph 1.
3. The Commission shall provide, maintain and support the reference implementation software on a free-of-charge basis.
4. The reference implementation software shall offer a common interface for communication with other national IT systems.
Costs of the decentralised IT system
1. Each Member State or entity operating an authorised e-CODEX access point as defined in Article 3, point (4), of Regulation (EU) 2022/850 shall bear the costs of the installation, operation and maintenance of the access points of the decentralised IT system for which they are responsible.
2. Each Member State or entity operating an authorised e-CODEX access point as defined in Article 3, point (4), of Regulation (EU) 2022/850 shall bear the costs of establishing and adjusting its relevant national or, where applicable, other IT systems to make them interoperable with the access points, and shall bear the costs of administering, operating and maintaining those systems.
3. Eurojust shall bear the costs of the installation, operation and maintenance of the components of the decentralised IT system under its responsibility.
4. Eurojust shall bear the costs of establishing and adjusting its case-management system to make it interoperable with the access points, and shall bear the costs of administering, operating and maintaining that system.
Statistics
1. Member States shall regularly collect comprehensive statistics in order for the Commission to monitor the application of this Regulation. The competent authorities of the Member States shall maintain those statistics and shall transmit them to the Commission on an annual basis. The competent authorities of the Member States may process personal data necessary for the production of those statistics.
2. The statistics referred to in paragraph 1 shall include:
(a)
the number of requests for the transfer of criminal proceedings issued, including the criteria for requesting the transfer, by the requesting State;
(b)
the number of accepted and refused transfers of criminal proceedings, including the grounds for refusal, by the requested State;
(c)
the length of time taken by the requested State to transmit information on the decision whether to accept or refuse the transfer of criminal proceedings.
3. The statistics referred to in paragraph 1 shall also include, if available at a central level in the Member State concerned:
(a)
the number of investigations and prosecutions that were not pursued following the acceptance of a transfer of criminal proceedings;
(b)
the number of cases in which legal remedies were sought against decisions to accept the transfer of criminal proceedings, specifying whether each case was brought by a suspect, accused person or victim, and the number of successfully challenged decisions;
(c)
as of four years from the date of entry into force of the implementing acts referred to in Article 25(1), the costs incurred under Article 27(2).
4. The reference implementation software referred to in Article 26 and, where equipped to do so, the national back-end systems shall programmatically collect the data referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, and transmit them to the Commission on an annual basis.
5. The statistics referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be transmitted from 1 February 2028.
6. The statistics referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall be collected through the decentralised IT system established in accordance with Article 25, within two years from the date of entry into force of the implementing acts referred to in that Article. For as long as the decentralised IT system is not operational and for that reason the statistics referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article are not collected automatically, those statistics shall only be transmitted if they are available at a central level in the Member State concerned.
Amendments to the request form and other forms
The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 30 to amend the Annexes by updating or making technical changes to the request form and other forms. Such amendments shall be in accordance with this Regulation and shall not affect it.
Exercise of the delegation
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.
2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 29 shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time from 1 February 2027.
3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 29 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.
4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.
5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.
6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 29 shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.
Committee procedure
1. For the purposes of Article 25 of this Regulation, the Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.
Notifications
1. By 1 February 2027 each Member State shall notify the Commission of the following:
(a)
the authorities which, in accordance with its national law, are competent in accordance with Article 2, point (3), to issue or validate requests for the transfer of criminal proceedings, and those competent in accordance with Article 2, point (4), to take decisions regarding such requests;
(b)
information regarding the other authorities referred to in Article 2, point (4), second paragraph, if the Member State makes use of the possibility provided for under that paragraph;
(c)
information regarding the designated central authority or authorities, if the Member State makes use of the possibility provided for under Article 20;
(d)
languages accepted for requests for the transfer of criminal proceedings, for the submission of supporting information and for any communication between authorities, when acting as requesting State and when acting as requested State.
2. Each Member State shall communicate to the Commission any updates to the information notified under paragraph 1.
The Commission shall ensure that the information received under paragraph 1 is kept up-to-date and made publicly available on the unrestricted area of the website of the European Judicial Network.
Relationship with international agreements and arrangements
1. Without prejudice to their application between Member States and third countries, this Regulation replaces, within its scope of application, as from 1 February 2027, the corresponding provisions of the European Convention on the Transfer of Proceedings in Criminal Matters of 15 May 1972 and the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters of 20 April 1959, applicable between the Member States bound by this Regulation.
2. In addition to this Regulation, Member States may conclude or continue to apply bilateral or multilateral agreements or arrangements with other Member States after 7 January 2025 only insofar as such agreements or arrangements make it possible to further strengthen the aims of this Regulation and contribute to simplifying or further facilitating the procedures for transferring criminal proceedings and provided that the level of safeguards set out in this Regulation is respected.
3. Member States shall notify the Council and the Commission by 1 February 2027 of the agreements and arrangements referred to in paragraph 2 which they intend to continue to apply. Member States shall also notify the Commission within three months of the signing of any new agreement or arrangement referred to in paragraph 2.
Reporting
By 1 February 2033, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the European Economic and Social Committee on the application of this Regulation, supported by information supplied by the Member States in accordance with Article 28(1) and collected by the Commission.
Transitional provisions
This Regulation shall apply to requests for the transfer of criminal proceedings transmitted from 1 February 2027. Requests for the transfer of criminal proceedings received before 1 February 2027 shall continue to be governed by existing instruments relating to the transfer of criminal proceedings.
Until such time as Article 24 becomes applicable pursuant to Article 36, third paragraph, communication between requesting authorities and requested authorities and, where applicable, with the involvement of central authorities, as well as with Eurojust, under this Regulation shall take place by any appropriate alternative means, taking into account the need to ensure a swift, secure and reliable exchange of information.
Entry into force and application
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
It shall apply from 1 February 2027.
However, Article 24 shall apply from the first day of the month following the period of two years from the date of entry into force of the implementing acts referred to in Article 25.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
