Law & Justice

EU Drafts Privacy Rules for Online Messaging

August 25, 2016

Newsweek reports that the European Commission is preparing legislation that will impose the same "security and confidentiality provisions" on online messaging services, predominantly run by US-based companies Facebook and Microsoft, as those that apply to mobile phone calls and texts.
UK Eyes Europol Exit

August 12, 2016

Politico reports that officials from the new British Government, which took office following the UK's vote to leave the EU, are considering as part of their Brexit policy a departure from Europol, an EU law enforcement agency that, beginning in 2017, will be overseen by the European Parliament and will gain more authority to fight terrorism.
EU Issues "Rule of Law Recommendation" to Poland

July 28, 2016

As part of its Rule of Law Framework, a process developed to put pressure on countries to address "systemic threats to the rule of law," the European Commission has issued a "Rule of Law Recommendation" pushing the Polish government to resolve its conflict with the country's Constitutional Tribunal by accepting and implementing all judgments of the body.
EU Cites Politics in Retreating from Budget Fines

July 28, 2016

As the EU's Commission for economic affairs, Pierre Moscovici, cites euroskepticism as a reason for avoiding fines against Spain and Portugal over their excessive budget deficits, Vincenzo Scarpetta of the think tank Open Europe says the decision signals that "politics trumps the rules" in the European Commission.
EU Takes Austria to Court over Ski Instructors

July 27, 2016

The European Commission has announced that it is filing a complaint against Austria in the Court of Justice of the EU over regulations in some of the country's regions that it says impose restrictions on foreign ski instructors without sufficient cause.
ECJ: Companies Must Pay Retired Workers for Unused Leave

July 27, 2016

The Court of Justice of the EU has held that, under EU law, companies must offer former workers who voluntarily ended their employment, including through retirement, an allowance to compensate them for any paid annual leave they did not take prior to their departure.
ECJ Official Sides Against Company's Headscarf Rule

July 20, 2016

The New York Times reports that an Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU has found, in an advisory opinion contradicting a previous opinion issued by a different Advocate General, that a French company unlawfully discriminated against a Muslim employee by not allowing her to wear a headscarf when meeting with clients.
EU Advances Further Objections to Google Market Practices

July 20, 2016

Supplementing its past complaints regarding internet giant Google's Android operating system, the European Commission has sent the company two new Statements of Objection asserting that it violated EU competition laws by favoring its own shopping services in its search results and by restricting websites from displaying other companies' search advertisements.
Truck Companies Face Record EU Fine for Collusion

July 20, 2016

The European Commission has announced a record €3 billion sanction on five truck companies for colluding on truck prices and for collaborating on the extent to which they would pass on the costs of environmentally friendly technologies to consumers.
ECJ Official Finds Restrictions on Data Retention

July 20, 2016

The Guardian reports that an opinion from an Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU, in a case on UK data retention laws, asserts that EU law only permits "a general obligation to retain data" in order to further the objective of law enforcement agencies to combat "serious crime."