On 31 January 2025, Europol and Eurojust published a new edition of their joint report on the common challenges that law enforcement and the judiciary face in the fight against cybercrime. The 2024 edition also offers a new, second part focusing on legal instruments that could mitigate some of these challenges. The first joint report was published in September 2019 (→ eucrim 2/2019, 98)

Common challenges include data volume, loss of data, access to data, anonymisation services, obstacles to international cooperation, and hurdles in public-private partnerships. The report also discusses legislative means to tackle cybercrime, including options under the e-Evidence Package (European Production and Preservation Orders), the Digital Services Act Regulation, the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act, the Second Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, and the CLOUD Act. It also analyses developments regarding the Executive Agreement between the EU and the USA.

Given the growing challenges of the unavailability of data in criminal investigations - due to technological developments and lack of data retention, jurisdictional barriers, and the complications inherent in public-private partnerships -, the report calls for a nuanced approach that balances strong security measures with the protection of individual privacy and civil liberties.

The report concludes that the realm of cybercrime is not static but an ever-evolving battleground where new challenges and solutions continually emerge. With regard to the new legislative tools, the report underscores that the real test lies in the practical application of these tools and the seamless integration into existing frameworks that will make them fully effective.