The WBCJ Project is funded by the European Commission’s Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III) and covers the Western Balkans 6 (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia). It is implemented by Eurojust since 14 September 2022. The overall objective is to strengthen the strategic and operational cooperation within the Western Balkan partners, and between the region and the EU, on fighting organised crime and terrorism, using modern judicial cooperation tools.
The project pursues the following specific objectives:
- Increase the ability of Western Balkan authorities to use modern judicial cooperation tools for investigating and prosecuting serious and organised cross-border crime
- Strengthen the knowledge of the Western Balkan authorities of tools, instruments and best practices linked to judicial cooperation in the EU
To reach the above objectives, the project delivers the following results:
- The Contact Group, comprised of representatives of the six Western Balkan partners, is established, meets regularly and reports on cases
- Western Balkan authorities are equipped with the necessary technical tools and financial means to coordinate parallel investigations
- Western Balkan authorities are equipped with the necessary technical tools and financial means to set up and carry out JITs among themselves and with an EU MS
- Increased participation of a larger number of Western Balkan authorities in Eurojust- supported cases
- Western Balkan authorities are equipped with the necessary capacities, capabilities and knowledge to share information on coordinating investigations and prosecutions
- Increased participation of Western Balkan partners in the practitioners’ networks and focus groups supported by Eurojust