Austrian Michael Schmid was elected on Tuesday as the new president of the EU justice agency Eurojust. He starts his four-year term on Friday. Schmid is a lawyer and has only been working for the authority since 2022.
The 40-year-old succeeds Slovak Ladislav Hamran, who was not re-elected after two terms. “My aim is to strengthen Eurojust’s support to judicial authorities across Europe,” said President-elect Schmid. Law enforcement has become increasingly complex in recent years, for example due to digitalization and an increasingly interconnected network of criminal networks. “Only together can we effectively tackle these challenges and guarantee a more secure Europe.”
After studying law in Vienna, Schmid worked as a prosecutor, where he also dealt with white-collar criminal cases. He was at Eurojust as an intern ten years ago, and the Austrian later became deputy national member and deputy head of Eurojust’s counter-terrorism network. Two years ago, Schmid took over as Austrian representative of the authority in The Hague and was responsible, among other things, for the organizational structure.
Coordination of cross-border criminal proceedings
Eurojust coordinates cross-border criminal proceedings by the judicial authorities of the 27 EU countries. The main focus of our work is on the fight against terrorism, arms, drugs and human trafficking, child pornography and money laundering. However, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, based in Luxembourg, has the authority to prosecute crimes across borders.
Source: Krone
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