"Making progress in these areas will contribute to securing and obtaining e-evidence more effectively, which is of utmost importance to step up the fight against terrorism and other criminal activities in or through the use of cyberspace," Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ard van der Steur stressed.
The Council adopted two sets of conclusions which outlined practical measures aimed at improving cooperation among EU states and setting out a timeline for further action.
The ministers identified streamlining of legal assistance through standardized electronic forms, improving the ways of obtaining data from Internet service providers and looking for "connecting factors" between separate jurisdictions in cyberspace as the three key areas.
The Council requested the European Commission, the EU executive body, to present a list of practical measures on the three work streams by June 2017.
