The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a far-reaching impact on the administration of public matters worldwide and on cooperation among states in general. It has also seriously impacted judicial cooperation in criminal matters. In this note, we briefly outline the direct effect the pandemic has had on judicial cooperation in criminal matters as experienced in Eurojust's casework.

This article aims to critically examine the limitations to the fundamental right of personal data protection in Greece by exploring three instances in which the rules and practices have put the protection of personal data under significant pressure: (1) the processing of information on individuals who obtain movement permits via SMS; (2) the tracking of COVID-19 patients; and (3) the guidelines on the management of the COVID-19 crisis by the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (DPA). The article argues that the Greek response to COVID-19 has been fraught with over-restrictive measures that go beyond what is necessary and proportionate in a democratic society. In particular, the requirement of obtaining movement permits via SMS, which has been inserted through soft law, thus without parliamentary scrutiny, has relativized data protection and has lowered individuals’ resistance to future surveillance practices marking everyday movement as a matter of interest to the state. In relation to … Read more

The questionable decision to exclude the competence of the EPPO for criminal offences in respect of national direct taxes could adversely affect its capacity to fight VAT fraud.

The effectiveness of the EPPO demands a functional interpretation of Art. 22(3) of the EPPO Regulation . Yet, the precise contour of this functional interpretation is far from being shaped, and such a task must be accomplished by practitioners, academics, and jurisprudence in the years to come.

The EPPO and OLAF shall not only co-exist, but also take advantage of their capacities, professional knowledge and the new legal options in order to become a powerful tool for combating fraud.

Differences in the criminal systems of the 22 participating Member States will certainly be a challenge for the EPPO when conducting investigations at the national level and, in particular, when using evidence obtained from other Member States. How competent courts in individual Member States react to the impact of evidence gathered in other Member States under the EPPO Regulation will be shown in practice. Surely, the sooner the EPPO starts producing some tangible results, the sooner it will be recognized by European taxpayers as an effective and efficient instrument in the protection of the European Union’s budget.