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This news item continues the last update provided in December 2020 on the rule-of-law situation in Poland as far as it relates to European law.

In an open letter to the Commission, civil society organisations call on the Commission to take a clear stance in favour of a ban to admit biometric mass surveillance technologies in the EU.

On 25 March 2021, the ECtHR delivered a landmark judgment, in which it sets out the level of fundamental rights protection by the ECHR in cases of execution of European Arrest Warrants.

On 21 March 2021, the CCPE published Opinion No. 15 on “The role of public prosecutors in emergency situations, in particular when facing a pandemic.” It sheds light on the implementation of the usual tasks of prosecutors in emergency situations, their new or expanded tasks in response to such situations, the management of challenges faced by prosecutors in emergency situations, and the modalities of international cooperation during a pandemic.

The ECtHR introduced a new case management strategy that establishes a new category of “impact” cases. The new strategy aims to ensure that priority cases are identified, processed, and decided very quickly.

In a comment, Dunja Mijatović (CoE Commissioner for Human Rights) warned member states that corruption undermines trust in public institutions, hinders economic development, and has a disproportionate impact on the exercise of human rights, especially among people belonging to marginalised or disadvantaged groups. It also disproportionately impacts women, children, and people living in poverty.

GRECO published its fifth round evaluation report on Norway. The country’s citizens are highly satisfied with services and institutions, administrative corruption and petty bribery are almost non-existent. GRECO found, however, some corruption-related challenges, such as close networks and conflicts of interest.

The CJEU decided on 17 March 2021 that, under certain circumstances, also convictions from third countries (here: Norway) may be subject to an EAW of an EU Member State which recognised the criminal judgment.

On 22 March 2021, the Council adopted amendments to Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation. The amendments aim at improving administrative tax cooperation and countering tax fraud/tax evasion.

On 30 March 2021, OLAF informed the public about successful raids in Belgium and Germany against counterfeiters. Supported by OLAF, a raid in a warehouse in Antwerp, Belgium brought to light hundreds of counterfeit sports shoes and textiles with premium labels. Over €25,000 in cash …