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7. The European Union regulationsb) “to improve cooperation between the competent authorities of the MemberStates, in particular by facilitating the execution of international mutual legalassistance and the implementation of extradition requests”;c) “to support otherwise the competent authorities of the Member States in orderto render their investigations and prosecutions more effective”.The competences of Eurojust are broad in scope. In regard to trafficking andsmuggling offences, they fall within the provisions set forth by article 4, paragraph1 letter a), which refers to “the types of crime and the offences in respect of whichEuropol is at all times competent to act pursuant to article 2 of the EuropolConvention”.The tasks entrusted to Eurojust are stated by article 5 ff. and they are carried outeither by acting collegially or by acting through its national members. The unit’smain functions consist in powers to request Member States to:- consider undertaking an investigation or prosecution of specific acts;- coordinate the competent authorities of the Member States concerned;- set up a joint investigation team;- provide Europol with any information necessary for it to carry out its tasks.The activities of Eurojust should be undertaken in synergy with those of Europoland the European Judicial Network through constant cooperation andcollaboration. 68D) J) JOINTINVESTIGATIONTEAMSJoint Investigation Teams – consisting of the competent authorities of two or moreMember States – are provided by article 13 of the 29 May 2000 Convention onMutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Member States of the EuropeanUnion, 69 although they were already mentioned in the Presidency Conclusions of themeeting in Tampere as figuring among the measures to be taken for effectiverepression of trafficking in human beings.The joint investigation teams conduct criminal investigations in one or more of theMember States concerned. The provision specifies the requirements for setting up ateam:a) “when the inquiries conducted by a Member State into criminal offences requiredifficult and demanding investigations linked with other Member States”;68 As specifically regards relationships with the European Judicial Network, The Decision stresses thatcooperation shall be maintained in “a balanced functional relationship, which is based on one hand on themutual autonomy and on the other hand on the structural complementarity of the two bodies”, so as toprevent conflicts between the activities of the two judicial authorities. Accordingly, Eurojust is a bodydevoted to the coordination of investigative and judicial activities by the judicial authorities of the MemberStates. This task is different and independent from cooperation, which is broadly understood as assistanceto national authorities in the carrying out of the above activities, this being instead the task of the Network.For more details see E. Calvanese, G. De Amicis, cit., pp. 1964 ff.69 Council of the European Communities, Council Act of 29 May 2000 establishing, in accordance witharticle 34 of the Treaty on European Union, the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Mattersbetween the Member States of the European Union, in Official Journal C 197, 12.07.2000.57