The main piece of the legislative package on electronic evidence – Regulation 2023/1543 (hereinafter: the e-evidence Regulation) establishes a new mutual recognition instrument for preserving and obtaining e-evidence from service providers located in another jurisdiction by means of European Preservation Orders (EPOC-PR) and European Production Orders (EPOC). It will be applicable in the EU Member States (except Denmark) as of 18 August 2026. As has often been stressed, this mutual recognition instrument, especially the revolutionary approach of allowing trans-border requests to be sent directly from the judicial authority of one Member State to the service provider of another Member State, takes the field of judicial cooperation beyond its traditional boundaries.

On 3 April 2014, Directive 2014/41/EU regarding the European investigation order in criminal matters was finally approved. This instrument seeks to overcome the present fragmentary regulation on the gathering and transfer of cross-border evidence and improve the efficiency of the international judicial cooperation among the Member States. This article analyses the scope, content, and requirements of the European investigation order in order to make an assessment of this Directive from the point of view of the protection of the fundamental rights envisaged in Article 48 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, and, in particular, the right of defence in transnational criminal proceedings.