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On 2 June 2021, the Commission presented its new strategy for a fully functioning and resilient Schengen area. With this strategy, the Commission is aiming to make the Schengen area – the largest visa-free zone in the world – stronger and more resilient, accentuating …

This news item continues the updates in previous eucrim issues on the rule-of-law situation in Poland as far as it relates to European law (→ inter alia, eucrim 1/2021, 4 and eucrim 4/2020, 257).

The problem of product piracy has worsened during the corona pandemic, in particular due to the accompanying increase in online trade. Counterfeiters have mainly exploited people’s uncertainty in the face of emerging treatments and vaccines, according to the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)

On 1 June 2021, the EPPO assumed its investigative and prosecutorial tasks. The relevant Commission decision was published in the EU's Official Journal on 28 May 2021. In a joint statement Commissioners Jourová, Hahn and Reynders said that "this day [1 June 2021] opens a new chapter in fighting cross-border crime.”

At the end of May 2021, Greek authorities succeeded in seizing almost 10 million contraband cigarettes. The cigarettes were smuggled from China in suitcases. The action prevented the loss of around €2 million in excise duties and VAT. OLAF supported the operation by alerting the …

OLAF participated in Operation Lake. This annual operation, which started five years ago, targets the smuggling of the protected European eel. The operation led to 52 arrests and the seizure of over 400 kg of eels valued at around €1.2 million. The authorities also detected new modi operandi used by criminal networks for the eel trafficking.

On 7 June 2021, OLAF Director-General Ville Itälä and the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Kunio Mikuriya, signed a new agreement enhancing cooperation between the two bodies. The new “Administrative Cooperation Arrangement” widens the scope and operational possibilities of a …

On 10 June 2021, OLAF published its activity report for 2020. The report highlights that OLAF’s work was much marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, when OLAF had to act against fake and substandard medical products which risked floating the EU market especially at the …

On 28 May 2021, the CoE Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY), which represents the State Parties to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, approved the draft for the Second Protocol to the Convention. It will enhance cooperation and disclosure of electronic evidence.

Civil society stakeholders reiterated their demand that the forthcoming EU legislation on “e-evidence”, which will ease the cross-border gathering and transfer of data for use in criminal proceedings, must include strong fundamental rights safeguards