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After five years of negotiations, the Council and the European Parliament (EP) finally adopted the legislative acts that will introduce a new system for the gathering of electronic evidence in criminal proceedings in the EU. This Spotlight provides a summary of the key features of the new legal framework, in particular as regards the obligations for and rights of the main actors.

On 20 June 2023, the Commission adjusted and complemented its 2021 proposal to establish new own resources for the EU budget (→ eucrim 2021, 213-214). The initiative (document: COM(2023) 331) comes after the Council had not shown much willingness to proceed with the …

In its decision granting discharge for the Commission, the EP reiterated its view that the weak control system for EU’s recovery funds could lead to misuse. Furthermore, the EP stressed taht EU Member States must respect rule of law to receive Union funds and called for new rules regulating NGOs’ access to EU money.

On 10 July 2023, the European Commission adopted its adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF). The decision concludes that the United States ensures an adequate level of protection - essentially equivalent to that of the European Union. Personal data can now be transferred from the EU to US companies which are certified and comply with the obligations under the DPF. Civil rights defenders already announced that they will challenge the DPF before the CJEU.

On 28 September 2023, First Advocate General (AG) Szpunar confirms his viewpoint that the retention of and access to civil identity data linked to the IP address used is to be permitted if this data represents the only clue for establishing the identity of persons who have committed copyright infringements exclusively on the internet.

The ECJ ruled on 7 September 2023, in Case C-162/22, that retained data provided to authorities for the purpose of combating serious crime cannot be used in the context of investigations for a disciplinary offense related to corruption.

The overall number of cases of fraud and irregularities detected and reported slightly increased in 2022. Closer coordination and increased digitalisation of the fight against fraud is needed. These are the main finding of the annual PIF report that was presented end of July 2023.

On 13 July 2023, Advocate General (AG) Laila Medina provided her opinion in an appeal case in which compensation due to false accusations from the part of OLAF is claimed. The AG, inter alia, clarified that the GC must carry out an examination on the plausibility of information giving rise to criminal liability and put forward by OLAF to the national judicial authorities.

The General Court rules on the scope of the duty of diligence if OLAF reports were leaked to the press. The GC dismissed the action for non-contractual liability arguing that the duty to maintain confidentiality of OLAF reports does not include the duty to publicly condemn a leak and to put an end to the dissemination of false information.

On 22 June 2023, Advocate General (AG) Tamara Ćapeta delivered her opinion in Case C-281/22 (G.K. and Others) – the first case before the CJEU regarding the interpretation of the EPPO Regulation 2017/1939 (→ eucrim 2/2022, 96). The case deals with cross-border cooperation between …