Law & Justice

ECJ Official Finds Facebook Subject to All EU Data Regimes

November 30, 2017

Fortune reports that Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) Yves Bot has advised that any data-protection agency within the EU has the authority to take action against Facebook for violating data-privacy rules, potentially subjecting the tech giant to dozens of competing regimes of data regulation.
Lawyer: UK Must Not Submit to ECJ After Brexit

November 29, 2017

British barrister Martin Howe QC writes that reported plans by the UK government to require British courts to refer decisions on the rights of EU citizens who remain in the UK after Brexit to the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) would amount to a "squalid and abject surrender" of the UK's national sovereignty to the ECJ.
EU Committee Adopts Proposals on Asylum Reform

November 29, 2017

In October, the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee approved a set of proposals to reform the EU asylum system to automatically assign refugees to various EU member states to spread the responsibility for accepting migrants claiming refugee status beyond the "frontline" EU countries.
EU Plans Clampdown on Supermarket Pricing Practices

November 15, 2017

Politico reports that European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan has announced plans to curtail the "super power" of supermarkets in EU member states in setting the prices and terms of deals for farm products by drafting legislation that would regulate supermarket pricing practices at the EU level.
EU Creates Europe-wide Public Prosecutor

November 14, 2017

EurActiv reports that the European Parliament has approved the creation of a European Public Prosecutors Office that will coordinate national and EU law enforcement efforts to prevent EU budget fraud and will have the authority to arrest suspects and seize assets, as some officials in the EU are already calling for the expansion of the office's powers to prevent terrorism.
EC: Luxembourg Must Collect Amazon "Back Taxes"

November 14, 2017

In October, the European Commission (EC) ordered the Luxembourg government to collect approximately $295 million in back taxes from tech giant Amazon after finding that the company benefited from tax advantages in the country in violation of EU state aid rules.
EC Advances Legal Complaint over Hungarian NGO Law

November 14, 2017

In October, the European Commission (EC) advanced its legal proceedings against Hungary over the country's new registration and reporting requirements for foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) by issuing a "reasoned opinion" asserting that these requirements violate EU laws concerning the free movement of capital and the right to privacy.
EC Takes Ireland to Court over Apple Taxes

November 13, 2017

In October, the European Commission (EC) announced plans to take Ireland to the Court of Justice of the EU over its failure to recover approximately $15 billion in back taxes EU officials say technology company Apple owes the country.
EU Official Seeks De-funding of Rule-of-Law Violators

November 08, 2017

EUobserver reports that, in a statement last week, European Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourova called for EU institutions to develop "stronger conditionality between the rule of law and the cohesion funds" used to finance projects in developing EU member states such as Poland and Hungary.
EU Official Defends Use of Force in Catalonia

November 08, 2017

Politico reports that, in a recent European Parliament debate, European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans defended the "proportionate use of force" by Spanish authorities to prevent Catalonians from voting in an independence referendum he said violated the country's law.