Monday April 15th 2019, Eurojust and Diplomat Magazine invited diplomats communication officers and press attachees to discover the organisation’s new visual identity. With a new building, came new press visuals and an ambition to expand beyond Europe.
By Aurore Heugas.
On Monday, April 15th 2019, Eurojust, in partnership with Diplomat Magazine, hosted a visit of their brand new interior to introduce an also brand new media outreach and logo.
The concept for the new building was to combine nature, culture and architecture with the refinement of materials and the shapes, meant to emulate the landscape in The Hague.
The logo, was conceptualised to illustrate the partnerships Eurojust has with different countries. It was thought out as a magnet, attracting country flags around it.
Along with a new logo, Eurojust is developing new tools and channels with visuals and infographics, a new public website, a quarterly newsletter, corporate social media and partnerships with the Justice and Home Affairs Council configuration (JHA) and EU institutions. All of this to expand beyond the Hague, and beyond Europe.
Before speaking of the future, Cecilia Thorfinn, Head of the Corporate Communications Unit, spoke about Eurojust’s accomplishments as well as the organisation constant cooperation with Europol. “Europol and Eurojust would not work without the other”.
While Eurojust takes care of a number of different cases, from drug trafficking, terrorism, human trafficking, to environmental crimes to name just a few, the two biggest occurrences are fraud and money laundering.
In a few numbers, Eurojust offered practical support to more than 6,500 investigations of serious organised crime, just in 2018. With a steady growth in new cases brought to Eurojust each year, the organisation is supporting an increase of 44% in new cases since 2015. An increase of 19% for 2018, “the steepest increase in the history of Eurojust”, according to Ladislav Hamran, President of Eurojust.
A prime example of their work can be seen in Operation Pollino, the largest European investigation in the fight against the mafia, that started in 2014. On a joint “Action Day” on December 5, 2018, 84 suspects were arrested and two million Euros’ worth of assets were seized.
While Eurojust grows, budgetary constraints arise. “The past year has not been without challenges. The Member States’ increasing demand for support was not always easy to reconcile with Eurojust’s budgetary constraints. (…) As we have no indications that the growth in casework will slow down soon, our budgetary situation will continue to require our attention in the coming period”, said Ladislav Hamran in the Eurojust Annual Report for 2018. Indeed the MFF, or the Multiannual Financial Framework, which is the EU’s long-term budget, has proposed a budget cut of 9% for Eurojust in 2021 to 2027.
The organisation might suffer some budgetary constraints, but it doesn’t mean they will cut back on their ambition. Eurojust’s goal in the coming years, is to become a global organisation. While it is still unclear how the Eurojust will develop in the coming months and years, it is safe to assume the cooperation with member states around the world will help reach that goal of going international.
For now, Eurojust’s goals for 2019 are being put in place, as the president of the organisation concludes: “As of 15 April 2019, the layout used in the Annual Report is how we will present ourselves. It is just one of the ways in which Eurojust is preparing for the future, during which we will continue to be the EU leading partner in bringing criminals to justice.”
