Article 16 of the Council Framework Decision on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedure between Member States (EAW FD, 2002/584/JHA) regulates the decision-making process for the competent authority of the executing Member State that receives multiple requests for surrender/ extradition of the same person. It covers both the situation of multiple European arrest warrants (EAWs) (Article 16(1) EAW FD) and the situation of conflicts between an EAW and a request for extradition presented by a third country (Article 16(3) EAW FD).

To support the decision-making process in the event of multiple EAWs, Eurojust published guidelines for deciding on Competing EAWs in its 2004 annual report. Since their publication, these guidelines have assisted the competent national executing authorities in taking informed decisions on competing requests for surrender/extradition. Eurojust has also regularly referred to these published guidelines when providing guidance to national authorities on this matter.