L 13814 Official Journal of the European Union 4.6.2009 I (Acts adopted under the EU Treaty) ACTS ADOPTED UNDER TITLE VI OF THE EU TREATY COUNCIL DECISION 2009/426/]HA of 16 December 2008 on the strengthening of Eurojust and amending Decision 2002/187/JHA setting up Eurojust with a view to reinforcing the fight against serious crime THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Articles 31(2) and 34(2)(c) thereof, Having regard to the initiative of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Poland, the Portuguese Republic, the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovak Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden, Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament ('), Whereas: (1)  Eurojust was set wup by Council Decision 2002/187[JHA (3 as a body of the European Union with legal personality to stimulate and to improve coor- dination and cooperation between competent judicial authorities of the Member States. (2)  On the basis of an assessment of the experience gained by Eurojust, a further enhancement of its operational effectiveness is needed by taking account of that experience. (3)  The time has come to ensure that Eurojust becomes more operational and that the status of national members is approximated. (") Opinion delivered on 2 September 2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal). ® OJ L 63, 6.3.2002, p. 1. 4) In order to ensure continuous and effective contribution from the Member States to the achievement by Eurojust of its objectives, the national member should be required to have his regular place of work at the seat of Eurojust. It is necessary to define a common basis of powers which every national member should have in his capacity as a competent national authority acting in accordance with national law. Some of these powers should be granted to the national member for urgent cases where it is not possible for him to identify or to contact the competent national authority in a timely manner. It is understood that these powers will not have to be exercised in so far as it is possible to identify and to contact the competent authority. This Decision does not affect the manner in which the Member States organise their internal judicial system or administrative procedures for the designation of the national member and the setting up of the internal working of the national desks at Eurojust. The setting up of an On-Call Coordination (OCC) within Eurojust is necessary to make Eurojust available around the clock and to enable it to intervene in urgent cases. It should be the responsibility of each Member State to ensure that their representatives in the OCC are able to act on a 24-hour/7-day basis. Member States should ensure that competent national authorities respond without undue delay to requests made under this Decision, even if competent national authorities refuse to comply with requests made by the national member. The role of the College should be enhanced in cases of conflict of jurisdiction and in cases of recurrent refusals or difficulties concerning the execution of requests for, and decisions on, judicial cooperation, including regarding instruments giving effect to the principle of mutual recognition.