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At the end of 2021, Europol published a review highlighting its most important operations in 2021. A detailed analysis of the threat of serious and organised crime facing the EU was provided in Europol’s Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2021 (→ news of …

To strengthen their cooperation against serious crime, Europol and the Republic of Korea signed a Working Arrangement on 22 December 2021. It introduces a secure system for the exchange of information between the parties. Furthermore, the arrangement foresees that the parties can exchange specialist knowledge, …

31 December 2021 marked the end of a cycle of trio presidencies. The cycle had started with the German Presidency on 1 July 2020 (→news of 31 August 2020), continued with the Portuguese Presidency on 1 January 2021 (→news of 1 April 2021), …

On 1 January 2022, France took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months. This also the first Presidency in the new cycle of trio presidencies composed of France, the Czech Republic, and Sweden (→separate news item).Under the title …

According to an opinion by AG Rantos, national courts cannot refuse executing EAWs only because the appointment of Polish judges was unlawful. Courts must strictly follow the line established by the CJEU in LM. However, the recent judgment by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal that questioned the primacy of Union law may cast doubts on Poland's compatibility with essential fundamental rights and may justify refusals.

Civil society organisations published a compendium of scenarios that showcase situations in which the planned e-evidence Regulation would lead to serious fundamental rights harms.

On 16 December 2021, the CJEU ruled that a European arrest warrant (EAW) may be issued even if the underlying criminal proceedings have been resumed after an amnesty. The case refers to criminal proceedings before a Slovak criminal court which reexamines criminal offences committed by Slovakian security officers in the 1990es.

On 19 November 2021, Advocate General (AG) Campos Sánchez-Bordona published his opinion on pending cases before the CJEU that concern the question of whether national data retention regimes are compatible with EU law. The cases concern legislation in Germany, Ireland and France. According to the AG, the answers can already be inferred from the CJEU's recent case law. General and indiscriminate regimes for combating crimes cannot be justified.

On 21 December 2021, the CJEU (Grand Chamber) delivered its judgment on several issues of the Romanian justice reform in the area of corruption. The referring Romanian courts mainly questioned whether several decisions of the Romanian Constitutional Court are compatible with Union law. The CJEU clarified the obligations incumbent under Art. 325 TFEU and the importance of judicial independent with regard to consequences if case law of Constitutional Courts is disapplied by lower courts.