Slovenia today concludes its Presidency of the Council of the European Union with a busy Justice and Home Affairs agenda, during which Eurojust has cooperated very closely with the Slovenian authorities. Under the Slovenian Presidency, the Agency held the first meeting of the Consultative Forum of European Prosecutors General in two years and participated in the EU – Western Balkans Ministerial Forum on Justice and Home Affairs. Furthermore, Eurojust organised the successful webinar on Prosecuting with EMPACT, which aimed at promoting the platform among judicial practitioners in particular.
The Justice and Home Affairs agenda of the Slovenian Presidency prioritised the fight against (online) hate speech and hate crime and promoted the rights of children and victims of criminal activities. These priorities were all well reflected in the events organised by Eurojust in cooperation with the Presidency.
The meeting of the Consultative Forum of Prosecutors General was their first physical gathering in two years and was organised by Slovenia in close collaboration with the previous Presidencies of 2020 and 2021: Portugal, Germany and Croatia. The Prosecutors General of Slovenia, Portugal and Germany and the Attorney General of Croatia co-chaired the event with Eurojust President Mr Ladislav Hamran.
Further, last month the Prosecutors General of the EU Member States and South Partner Countries of the European Union jointly agreed on the first Cross-Regional Strategy for Judicial Cooperation, which was another milestone during the Presidency.
Another major event during the Slovenian Presidency was the Ministerial Conference on the Prevention and Investigation of Child Sexual Abuse. This conference took place in an online format and was dedicated entirely to one of the priorities of the Presidency: the tackling of sexual abuse of children, and particularly abuse via digital means.
With the European Commission adopting its initiatives on the digitalisation of justice earlier this month, digital justice was one of the main topics during the EU – Western Balkans Ministerial Forum on Justice and Home Affairs, held in Brdo pri Kranju on 3 December. Eurojust Vice-President and National Member for Slovenia Mr Boštjan Škrlec participated in the event on behalf of Eurojust.
Following the tradition of other Member States holding the Presidency, Slovenia organised an exhibition of national art at Eurojust during the second half of the year, with work from the artists Nuša Lapajne, Jaka Ivančič and Marko Horvat. This exhibition was organised by the Association of Friends of Slovenia in the Netherlands. Mr Škrlec pays special homage to the artists and the Association for the cooperation during the Slovenian Presidency.
Eurojust is an agency of the European Union