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On 2 May 2018, the Commission tabled its proposals for a new long-term EU budget, also referred to as Multiannual Financial Framework (“MFF”). The new framework would follow the current budget period that ends in 2020. The MFF would therefore cover the period from 2021 to 2027, and it especially takes into account the EU-27 after the withdrawal of the UK.

On 3 May 2018, the General Court (GC) delivered an important judgment in which it clarified the relationship between Union law and national law when checks against economic operators are carried out by OLAF. The GC confirmed that checks are a matter of EU law, and national law is only relevant in cases of assistance by national authorities.

On 28 May 2018, the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) published a report on the cost of non-Europe in the fight against terrorism. It continues the series of several cost- of- non-Europe reports increasingly covering the European criminal law field, such as the cost of non-Europe reports on organised crime and corruption, on procedural rights and detention conditions and on equality and the fight against racism and xenophobia.

The European Commission Task Force for the Preparation and Conduct of Negotiations with the United Kingdom under Article 50 TEU has already published documents on how the future framework of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters could be shaped. These documents are available …

On 23 March 2018, the European Council adopted guidelines that set out the overall framework for the future relationship between the EU and the UK after Brexit. The European Council welcomes the draft Withdrawal Agreement presented by the Commission on 28 February 2018 and takes note of the European Parliament resolution of 14 March 2018 on the framework of the future EU-UK relationship.

On 17 April 2018, the European Commission tabled legislative proposals that frame EU law allowing European law enforcement authorities to quickly and more efficiently secure and obtain electronic evidence (“e-evidence”). There was much debate in the run-up to the proposal, with calls for legislative action being uttered by the Council, on the one hand, and doubts by private companies and civil society organizations being voiced about the need for such action, on the other.

On 23 April 2018, the Commission presented a long-awaited legislative proposal on the protection of whistleblowers. The proposal for a “Directive on the protection of persons reporting on breaches of Union law” (COM(2018) 218 final) is accompanied by a Communication entitled “Strengthening whistleblower protection at EU level” (COM(2018) 214 final).

On 17 April 2018, the Commission proposed another piece of legislation that supplements the current anti-money laundering legal framework. By means of a Directive, the Commission wishes to introduce uniform EU-wide rules, so that designated law enforcement authorities of the Member States can directly access centralized national bank account registries or data retrieval systems.

In February 2018, the director of a Hungarian company was convicted at first instance to three and a half years of imprisonment because he was held responsible for having managed a fraud scheme against EU funds. The case was originally investigated by OLAF; together with a so-called judicial recommendation, its findings were submitted to the Hungarian authorities in 2017. An indictment was filed in 2017.

On 17 April 2018, the Commission proposed a series of measures, aimed at curbing security threats in the EU, under the overall title “Denying terrorists the means and space to act”.