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The EU’s response to money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) is fragmented at the institutional level and poorly coordinated if it came to actions to prevent ML/TF and to follow-up identified risks. The EU oversight framework is insufficient to ensure a level playing field. These are the overall conclusions of the European Court of Auditors (ECA) in its Special Report 13/2021.

The European Parliament and the Council established the Union Anti-Fraud Programme for the duration of the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027. The underlying Regulation (EU) 2021/785 was published in the Official Journal L 172 of 17 May 2021. The Programme succeeds the Hercule III Programme that ran until 2020.

In a resolution, adopted on 20 May 2021, the European Parliament plead for revamping the EU rules on environmental liability. This should include a reform of the 2008 Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law. Considering low detection, investigation and conviction rates for environmental crimes, MEPs also call for an extension of the EPPO's mandate to cover environmental offences.

On 26 May 2021, based on the Europol report “SOCTA 2021”, the Council adopted conclusions setting EU priorities for the period 2022-2025 to fight serious and organised crime. The conclusions fix clear goals that should be achieved within the framework of EMPACT (European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats). Combating ten forms of crime is considered a priority during the next policy cycle.

On 5 July 2021, European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi and OLAF Director-General Ville Itälä signed a working arrangement that sets out the future operational cooperation between the EPPO and OLAF. The agreement can be considered an important milestone since both offices are mandated to …

On 8 June 2021, the JHA Council adopted conclusions on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on terrorism and violent extremism. They provide an overview of the current situation and identify needs for action. It is stressed that information on the understanding and assessment of the online dimension of the terrorist and extremist threats are particularly important. Therefore, Member States must provide INTCEN and Europol with the necessary support.

On 7 June 2021, the JHA Council adopted conclusions “on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on internal security: threats, trends, resilience and lessons learned for EU law enforcement.” By stressing that the COVID-19 pandemic posed unpredictable risks and threats to the internal security …

At its meeting on 7-8 June 2021, the JHA Council adopted conclusions on the transfer of passenger name record (PNR) data to third countries, in particular Australia and the United States, for the purpose of combatting terrorism and serious crime.

On 1 July 2021, Slovenia assumed the EU Council Presidency for the next six months. The motto: “Together. Resilient. Europe.” In general, priority topics will be post-pandemic economic recovery, the Conference on the Future of Europe and the EU enlargement process in the Western Balkans. …

One of the priorities of the Portuguese Council Presidency in the first half of 2021 was to strengthen the criminal law protection of intellectual property rights. Against the background of growing counterfeiting and product piracy activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus was laid on …