competent authoritymeans a court, public prosecutor’s office, central authority and other competent authorities defined in, designated or which are the subject of notification in accordance with, the legal acts listed in Annexes I and II, as well as Union bodies and agencies that take part in judicial cooperation procedures in accordance with the legal acts listed in Annex II;
decentralised IT systemmeans a network of IT systems and interoperable access points, operating under the individual responsibility and management of each Member State, Union body or agency, that enables the secure and reliable cross-border exchange of information;
electronic communicationmeans the digital exchange of information over the internet or another electronic communication network;
European electronic access pointmeans a portal which is accessible to natural and legal persons or their representatives, throughout the Union, and is connected to an interoperable access point in the context of the decentralised IT system;
feesmeans payments levied by competent authorities in the context of proceedings under the legal acts listed in Annex I;
videoconferencingmeans audio-visual transmission technology that allows two-way and simultaneous communication of image and sound, thereby enabling visual, audio and oral interaction.