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On 24 July 2019, the European Commission presented its 19th “progress report towards an effective and genuine Security Union.” It focuses, in particular, on the following: the need for the Union’s co-legislators to deliver on pending legislative proposals; enhancement of digital infrastructure security in connection with the fifth generation (5G) networks; analysis of the current risks and vulnerabilities of the EU’s anti-money laundering framework...

On 25 July 2019, the Commission decided to launch an action before the CJEU against Hungary for not fulfilling its obligations under EU law, because Hungary has not changed its so-called “Stop Soros” legislation. The law criminalises activities in support of asylum applications and further restricts the right to request asylum.

On 17 July 2019, the Commission took the next step in the infringement procedure against Poland, eyeing the Polish law that introduced a new disciplinary regime for ordinary court judges.

On 27 June 2019, Advocate General Tanchev delivered his opinion on a reference for a preliminary ruling brought by the Polish Supreme Court (Joined Cases C‑585/18, C‑624/18 and C‑625/18). The referring court casts doubt as to whether the newly created Disciplinary Chamber of the Supreme Court meets the requirements of independence under EU law.

On 20 June 2019, Advocate General Tanchev presented his opinion on whether the new retirement rules for Polish judges and prosecutors violate EU law. The case (C-192/18) is an action for failure to fulfil obligations (Art. 258 TFEU).

On 24 June 2019, the CJEU ruled that the Polish reform lowering the retirement age of the Supreme Court judges is contrary to EU law (Case C-619/18). The Court reviewed the Polish reform law in light of Art. 19(1) subpara. 2 TEU.

In light of a discussion paper by the Finnish Council Presidency, the Ministers of Justice of the EU Member States held a policy debate on strengthening the rule of law ‒ from the perspective of the justice sector.

On 17 July 2019, the European Commission adopted a set of actions to further strengthen the rule of law in Europe. Key aspects are increased awareness, an annual monitoring cycle, and more effective enforcement.

The plans to establish new rules that enable law enforcement authorities to directly seek the preservation and production of electronically stored data held by private service providers (the “e-evidence proposals”, see eucrim 1/2018, 35-36) face further criticism from civil stakeholders. In February 2019, Fair …

The Council of Bars and Law Societies in Europe (CCBE) scrutinised the U.S. CLOUD Act. It allows U.S. federal law enforcement to compel U.S.-based technology companies to provide requested data stored on servers via warrant or subpoena − regardless of whether the data are stored …