CEP at High-Level Forum on Future of EU Criminal Justice

The Forum was opened by Mr. Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection and Mr. Adam Bodnar, Minister of Justice of Poland. Introductory remarks were delivered by  Mr. Javier Zarzalejos, Chair of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.

Before the discussion among the participants, the topic of challenges for the future of EU Criminal Justice was set by presentation of Professor Katalin Ligeti from University of Luxembourg who highlighted key challenges, such as serious cross-border crime, digitalization of criminal justice, penal populism and prison overpopulation.

Ms Laura Codruța Kövesi, European Chief Prosecutor, stressed that talking about the future of EU Criminal Justice “is not business as usual” and that it is time to act – states must be more efficient, and we need more harmonisation.

The practical point of view was also presented by Mr. Michael Schmid, President of Eurojust; Mr. Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, Deputy Executive Director of Europol and Ms Sue Preenen, Prosecutor General from The Netherlands.

During The Forum, the discussion among participants is divided into

• (1)The Future of EU Substantive Criminal Law on day one,
• (2) The Future of Judicial Cooperation and Mutual Recognition and
• (3) The Future of Procedural Safeguards on day two.

At The Forum, CEP is a voice of practitioners regarding the Framework Decisions 947 and 829 (Framework Decisions on Probation and Alternative Sanctions and on the European Supervision Order), stressing the need for improvement of the operation of the Framework Decisions. Good practices and differences among the states are visible from the regular meetings of practitioners that are organised by CEP on this topic. The need for additional improvement is reinforced by the fact that new EU Projects are developed as a result of CEP meetings- for example, Empowerment of the Framework Decisions 947 and 829 through EU Probation Services (EMPRO), a two-year EU-funded Project that started in February 2025.