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At its meeting of 4 December 2018, the ECOFIN Council adopted conclusions on an Anti-Money Laundering Action Plan. The ministers welcomed the progress made in preventing and combating money laundering in recent years, but call for further improvements, in particular as regards the (cross-border) exchange of information and collaboration between prudential and anti-money laundering supervisory authorities.

On 15 November 2018, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) adopted Opinion No 9/2018 on the Commission’s proposal for a Regulation establishing the EU Anti-Fraud Programme for the 2021-2027 financing period (for the proposal, see eucrim 2/2018, pp. 92-93).

On 7 December 2018, the Commission published the 2nd Action Plan to fight the illicit tobacco trade (Communication to the European Parliament and the Council, COM(2018) 846 final). The action plan covers the period 2018-2020. The Commission stresses that the illicit tobacco trade can only be curbed by a combination of policy and enforcement measures.

In November 2018, OLAF hosted the annual meeting of the Anti-Fraud Communicators' Network (OAFCN). Communication experts working for anti-fraud public organisations discussed crisis communication, the importance of storytelling, and real-life communication scenarios.

The European Court of Auditors (ECA) Opinion welcomes certain approaches and concepts in the Commission proposal of 23 May 2018 amending OLAF Regulation 883/2013, but still sees some weaknesses preventing the two objectives from being met.

On 29 November 2018, the European Parliament (EP) adopted its negotiating position on the revision of the Schengen Borders Code. MEPs stressed that the revision must ensure the Schengen achievements and put an end to current misuse or misinterpretation when upholding internal border controls.

New alerts on criminals and return decisions; greater vigilance for terrorist offences; better protection for children at risk of abduction; and enhanced data protection. These are the main features of the new legal framework for the EU’s largest security database, the Schengen Information System (SIS).

The United Kingdom is free to unilaterally revoke the notification of its intention to withdraw from the EU. Unanimous approval by the European Council regarding this revocation is not necessary. This was the response of the CJEU plenary to a request for a preliminary ruling by the Scottish Court of Session.

Also after having heard the arguments of the Polish government, the CJEU confirmed interim measures against the reform of the retirement age of Supreme Court judges under new Polish law. By order of 17 December 2018, the judges in Luxembourg granted the Commission’s request for interim measures and upheld a provisional order of 19 October 2018 by the Vice-President of the Court.

The article summarises the recent references of German criminal courts to the ECJ seeking guidance on the interpretation of the German procedure for penal orders (Strafbefehlsverfahren). Conformity was sought with regard to the EU directives on the right to interpretation/translation and the right to information. …