Eurojust presents its first Programming Document for the period 2017 to 2019 to the budgetary authorities. For the first time the Institutions and Agencies of the EU use this new format and Eurojust welcomes the opportunity to present all relevant aspects to its resource needs for the coming years in one consolidated document.

As in previous years, Eurojust was confronted in 2015 with a significant increase of 23 per cent in the number of cases referred by the competent authorities of the Member States (total number of cases in 2015 was 1792). At 31 october 2016, the total number of cases counted already 1878 and it is evident that this trend will continue in 2017 and beyond. This steep increase in operational demands is particularly challenging in times of frozen or even reduced budgets. The 2017 budget proposed by Eurojust reflects the operational needs which are evidenced by the constantly increasing figures in cases, coordination meetings and coordination centres organised and conducted by Eurojust.