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Justice and Home Affairs Council (Justice), 13 October 2025
Main results
Justice
The future of Eurojust
Ministers of Justice held a policy debate about the future of Eurojust. Eurojust, which is based in The Hague, is the European Union agency for criminal justice cooperation between national investigating and prosecuting authorities.
Ministers shared their views on possibilities for Eurojust to further improve its support to national investigating and prosecuting authorities in the fight against serious crime. Many ministers stressed that Eurojust should have the means and tools to support concrete investigations. Several ministers also flagged the role that Eurojust can play in improving judicial cooperation between the EU and third countries, for instance when it comes to extraditing drug criminals.
In July 2025, the European Commission released an evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of Eurojust and its working practices and is expected to kick-off an impact assessment of the legislation underpinning Eurojust. Today’s exchange of views between the ministers will provide political guidance to the Commission for a possible revision of the Eurojust regulation.
The Commission provided a state of play of the work carried out, in the justice area, on access to data.
The European Commission informed about the public consultation it conducted on data retention – and which ended on 12 September 2025 – as well as the ongoing impact assessment process. The presidency informed about the exchanges that were held at technical level on member states’ operational needs, challenges and best practices in relation to data retention.
Data retention refers to obligations imposed on service providers such as telecommunication companies to retain metadata (e.g. phone location data) for a certain time period to be used in criminal investigations. After the EU Court declared the data retention directive invalid in 2014, there has been no EU legal framework on data retention.
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine: fight against impunity
Ministers received an update on existing efforts to fight impunity for crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
The EU, its member states and international bodies have established various initiatives, such as the establishment of a joint investigation team between Ukrainian and several EU member states’ judicial authorities, to ensure accountability.
In the course of 2025, the Council of Europe members reached an agreement on the establishment of an International Claims Commission. This body will review claims from people who suffered damages due to Russia’s aggression and determine compensation.
On 25 June this year, Ukraine and the Council of Europe in Strasbourg also signed the agreement on the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. Member state experts in the Council have started discussions about the modalities of the cooperation of EU countries with the Tribunal.
This war is a reminder that our security and values are inseparable. That is why we stand by the vision of ‘A strong Europe in a changing world’ – because in times of war and uncertainty, unity is our greatest strength. Supporting Ukraine’s fight for peace and freedom is a priority for the Danish Presidency.
During their working lunch on rule of law developments in the field of justice, ministers discussed how to ensure political participation and protect politicians from threats and violence. This debate happened against a backdrop of increased threats, from physical violence and intimidation to online hate speech. Points that were discussed include finding a balance between ensuring an open public debate on the one hand and protecting politicians from harm and intimidation on the other hand. They also exchanged views and experiences regarding national protection regimes for politicians and ensuring an information space safe from abuse and harm.
The European Commission informed ministers about the annual progress report on simplification, enforcement and implementation. France raised the forthcoming European Democracy Shield, an initiative aiming to strengthen information integrity in the EU. Slovakia informed about its government’s reaction to the Rule of Law report 2025. Slovenia provided information regarding the sanctions taken by the US against the International Criminal Court and human rights rapporteurs of the UN.
