THE EUROPEAN UNION, on the one hand, and THE REPUBLIC OF ICELAND and THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY, on the other hand, hereinafter referred to as 'the Contracting Parties',
WISHING to improve judicial cooperation in criminal matters between the Member States of the European Union and Iceland and Norway, without prejudice to the rules protecting individual freedom,
CONSIDERING that current relationships among the Contracting Parties require close cooperation in the fight against crime,
POINTING OUT the Contracting Parties' common interest in ensuring that mutual assistance between the Member States of the European Union and Iceland and Norway is provided in a fast and efficient manner compatible with the basic principles of their national law, and in compliance with the individual rights and principles of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, signed at Rome on 4 November 1950,
EXPRESSING their mutual confidence in the structure and fu
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