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FCC: German Legislator Was Prohibited from Introducing Ground for Reopening Criminal Proceedings
On 31 October 2023, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) declared a provision void that allowed the reopening of criminal proceedings if new evidence comes to light with regard to very severe offences. The legal basis - Section 362 no. 5 of the German Criminal Procedure Code is incompatible with the German Constitution's double jeopardy rule. Read more
Thomas Wahl
EU
Ne bis in idem
ECJ Clarifies Obligation to Inform Accused Person of Reclassification of Offence
On 9 November 2023, the ECJ decided that Union law obliges a criminal court to inform the accused person of a new envisaged legal classification of the criminal act in due time (Case C-175/22, BK). Bulgarian criminal procedure law as interpreted by the Bulgarian courts conflicts with this principle. Read more
EU
Procedural Safeguards
Commission Presents Package to Prevent and Fight Migrant Smuggling
On 28 November 2023, the Commission presented a bundle of measures to reinforce the prevention and fight against migrant smuggling. A new Directive will replace the current legal framework on the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and stay in the EU. A new Regulation is designed to strengthen police cooperation in the fight against migrant smuggling with a central, more important role of Europol. Read more
Dr. Anna Pingen
EU
Organised Crime
Trafficking in Human Beings
Law Enforcement Cooperation
EP Ready to Discuss Proposal to Combat Child Sexual Abuse Online
At the end of November 2023, the EP adopted its negotiating position on the new EU law on the prevention and combat of child sexual abuse online. The EP advocates a better balance between the need to fight child sexual abuse online and to avoid generalised monitoring of the internet. In addition, end-to-end encrypted material should be excluded from detection. Read more
EU
Legislation
Change in EU List of Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions for Tax Purposes
The EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes was updated on 17 October 2023. Three jurisdictions were added to the blacklist (Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, and Seychelles), two were moved to the "grey list" (British Virgin Islands and Costa Rica), and one country (Marshall … Read more
EU
Tax Evasion
VAT Gap Report 2023: Progress in VAT Compliance
On 24 October 2023, the Commission released the 2023 report on the VAT gap in the EU. The VAT gap refers to the difference between expected value-added tax (VAT) revenue and the actual amount collected. As VAT is an important contributor to both EU … Read more
EU
Tax Evasion
Research Team Published 2024 Report on Global Tax Evasion
On 22 October 2023, the EU Tax Observatory published a report on tax evasion, which deals with the effects of far-reaching initiatives to reduce international tax evasion. Prepared by the staff of the EU Tax Observatory, a research laboratory dedicated to international tax … Read more
EU
Tax Evasion
New Directive Amending EU Rules on Administrative Cooperation in Area of Taxation
On 24 October 2023, DAC8 was published in the Official Journal of the EU. The amendments targeting better administrative cooperation in the field of taxation aim to strengthen the fight against tax evasion, among others, by extending registration and reporting obligations and by including crypto assets into the scope of Directive 2011/16/EU. Read more
EU
Legislation
Tax Evasion
DSA: Publication of the Transparency Reports for VLOPs and VLOSEs
As part of their transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), designated Very Large Online Platforms and Very Large Online Search Engines have published their first transparency reports. Read more
EU
Legislation
Cooperation between EU and UN in Fight against Corruption
The EU and the UN have fostered their collaboration in the fight against corruption. On 5 October 2023, the second EU-UNODC Anti-Corruption Dialogue was held in Vienna. On 13/14 November 2023, the review for the implementation of the UNCAC in the EU was continued by an evaluation visit coordinated by UNODC. Read more
EU
Corruption
ECA: Commission's Financial Management and Performance Report too Positive
According to a review report, the Commission does not share the same conclusion as the ECA does on specific expenditure areas. Estimates as regards the error rate considerably diverge between the two EU bodies. Read more
EU
Commission
Protection of Financial Interests
ECA: Increased Error Rate in EU's 2022 Spending
The EU's spending in 2022 amounted to €196 billion, which was marked by a significant increase in the level of error, which is why two thirds of the audited expenditure must be considered high-risk. This is one of the main findings in the European Court of Auditors' (ECA) annual reports on the implementation of the EU budget. Read more
EU
Protection of Financial Interests
ECA: Overall Performance of EU's Recovery Fund Cannot Be Measured
In a special report of October 2023, the ECA concluded that the monitoring elements of the RRF are insufficient for measuring the overall performance, i.e. it is unclear to which extent the goals of the fund, such as making European economy greener and more resilient, were achieved. In addition problems of data quality and weaknesses in the reporting system were observed. Read more
EU
Protection of Financial Interests
Report on Impact of E-evidence Package on Switzerland
In a report of 24 October 2023, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice examined the impact of the EU e-evidence package on service providers based in Switzerland and on mutual legal assistance between Switzerland and the EU/EU Member States. Read more
EU
e-Evidence
Law Enforcement Cooperation
Europol Report "The Second Quantum Revolution"
A Europol report released on 23 October 2023 provides insights on how quantum computing and quantum technologies can help law enforcement and how malicious actors can use these technical advancements. The report makes five key recommendations to law enforcement authorities. Read more
Cornelia Riehle LL.M.
EU
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Europol
Data Protection
European Commission Work Programme 2024
On 17 October 2023, the European Commission adopted its Work Programme for the year 2024. The Work Programme builds on the priorities announced in the State of the Union address of 13 September 2023. Read more
EU
Area of Freedom, Security and Justice
Commission