Eurojust is an agency of the European Union (EU) dealing with judicial co-operation in criminal matters among agencies of the member states. It is seated in The Hague, Netherlands. Established in 2002, it was created to improve handling of serious cross-border and organised crime by stimulating investigative and prosecutorial co-ordination. Eurojust is composed of a college formed of 27 national members—experienced judges, prosecutors, or police officers of equivalent competence from each EU member state. The terms and duties of the members are defined by the state that appoints them. Eurojust also co-operates with third states and other EU bodies such as the European Judicial Network, Europol and the OLAF. History Eurojust was established as a result of a decision that the European Council of Tampere (15-16 October 1999) made to set up a permanent judicial co-operation unit in order to improve the fight against serious crime. The Treaty of Nice amended the Treaty on the European Union to include a reference to Eurojust. On 14 December 2000, a precursor organization called Pro-Eurojust was created by the Council of the European Union to permit prosecutors to test the Eurojust processes. It began operating in Brussels on 1 March 2001. The terrorist attacks in the U.S. in September of that year demonstrated strongly the need for international cooperation, speeding the development of Eurojust, which was then established in February 2002 by Council Decision 2002/187/JHA. The new organization settled in The Hague on 29 April 2003. Since its establishment, Eurojust has focused heavily on forging international co-operation agreements and building international contact points, including the basing at Eurojust of several liaison prosecutors (Norway, Switzerland, Montenegro and the United States). In addition to these four nations, it has co-operation agreements with Europol, OLAF, CEPOL, the European Judicial Training Network, UNODC, Iber-RED, Croatia (before it entered the European Union on 1 July 2013, thus joining EUROJUST), Iceland, and North Macedonia. The New Council Decision on the Strengthening of Eurojust was signed in July 2008 to enhance Eurojust's cooperation with partners and third States and to generally strengthen its operational capabilities. Functions Types of crimes and offences According to the Eurojust Decision, Eurojust may act when two or more Member states are affected crimes in which Europol is entitled to act, including organised crime, terrorism and other forms of serious crime (unlawful drug trafficking, illegal moneylaundering activities, crime connected with nuclear and radioactive substances, illegal immigrant