Undoubtedly, the fight against corruption is no easy job, mainly because of the very secretive nature of such an offence that, at times, makes it next to impossible to detect, especially when hardly anyone files a report with the law enforcement authorities. Hence, new methods need to be identified and devised to fight corruption at a national level and in the European Union whilst at the same time safeguarding human rights, especially the right to a fair and public trial as well as the right to privacy. This is indeed an arduous task for all the public authorities involved in… Read more

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is charged with protecting the EU’s financial interests by investigating fraud, corruption, and other illegal activities. OLAF’s daily work involves the processing of large amounts of sensitive1 personal data. As a service of the European Commission, OLAF is subject to Regulation (EC) 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by Community institutions and bodies (data protection regulation) and is thus under the supervisory powers of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS). OLAF conducts administrative investigations in full independence, both internally – concerning the EU institutions and bodies –… Read more

The article examines the “data protection gap” in EU law concerning the transfer of personal data from private companies to law enforcement authorities for criminal investigations. While commercial data processing falls under the proposed regulation and police/judicial processing under the proposed directive, transfers between the two remain unregulated. The author analyses how such transfers affect core data protection principles, including accuracy, reliability, purpose limitation, necessity, and security, drawing on Europol’s practices and existing EU–US agreements. She argues that the proposed directive should explicitly cover these transfers, with complementary obligations for private companies under the proposed regulation, to ensure effective protection while enabling criminal investigations.

The European Union has adopted and developed a comprehensive framework to combat offences affecting its financial interests over the years. It established a specific investigative service, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in 1999, which is competent to conduct administrative investigations when there is suspicion of fraud or any illegal activity affecting the budget of the Union.1 OLAF can fully independently conduct internal investigations (i.e., inside any European institution or body funded by the EU budget) and external investigations (i.e., at the national level if the EU’s financial interests are affected); to this end, it cooperates closely with competent national authorities… Read more