Cooperation between competent authorities of Member States, the Commission, Europol, Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office
Article 16
1. Where the criminal offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4 are suspected to be of a cross-border nature, the competent authorities of the Member States concerned shall consider referring the information related to those criminal offences to appropriate competent bodies. Without prejudice to the rules on cross-border cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, the Member States, Europol, Eurojust, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Commission shall, within their respective competences, cooperate with each other in the fight against the criminal offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4. To that end, Europol and Eurojust shall, where appropriate, provide the technical and operational assistance needed by the competent national authorities to facilitate the coordination of their investigations. 2. The Commission may, where necessary, establish a network of experts and practitioners to share best practices and, where appropriate, provide assistance to the competent authorities of Member States in order to facilitate the investigation of offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures. That network, where appropriate, may also provide a publicly available and regularly updated mapping of the risks of violations or circumvention of Union restrictive measures in specific geographic areas, and with respect to specific sectors and activities. 3. Where the cooperation referred to in paragraph 1 involves cooperation with the competent authorities of third countries, that cooperation should take place with full respect of fundamental rights and international law. 4. Member States’ competent authorities shall on a frequent and regular basis share information on practical issues, in particular, on patterns of circumvention, such as structures to conceal the beneficial ownership and control of assets, with the Commission and other competent authorities.