Law & Justice

EU Investigates Alleged Tax Breaks for McDonald's

December 07, 2015

POLITICO reports that as the European Commission opens an investigation of a ruling in Luxembourg that allegedly exempted a McDonald's subsidiary from paying taxes, activists argue that this and other rulings highlight a need for "a fundamental review of the tax system" in the European Union.
Belgium Seeks "European CIA"

December 03, 2015

AFP reports that following the Paris terror attacks, Prime Minister of Belgium Charles Michel and European Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos have called for a pan-European equivalent to the US Central Intelligence Agency ("CIA") to put together information on radicals and, in the words of Michel, "unmask those with hostile intentions."
Denmark Holds Vote on EU Justice Measures

December 02, 2015

The Telegraph reports that Denmark is holding a referendum in early December on whether to opt-in to a set of EU justice and security measures, including in police cooperation and debt recovery across national borders, from which it currently opts out.
Hungary Pursues Legal Challenge to EU Migrant Quotas

December 02, 2015

Arguing that the quota measure ignores the concept of subsidiarity, the Hungarian Parliament has voted to join Slovakia in pursuing a legal challenge to the adoption by the EU of country-by-country quotas for migrants who have entered the bloc from the Middle East and North Africa.
France Seeks Ramp-up of Intra-EU Travel Security

December 01, 2015

The Telegraph reports that in response to the recent terror attacks in Paris, French President François Hollande is seeking to suspend the Schengen Agreement, which allows people to move across borders inside the EU without showing a passport or visa, and to implement a passenger name record that would track passengers traveling in the EU.
UK Study Finds Risks in EU DNA-Request System

November 18, 2015

A study from the UK Home Office expresses concern that if Britain participates in an EU system through which other countries could request DNA and fingerprint information from UK police in order to help solve crimes, it could face a significant number of requests for DNA of British citizens from countries with lower standards for criminal DNA matching.
Court Strikes Blow to EU Sanctions in Ukraine

October 30, 2015

POLITICO reports that the General Court of the EU has struck down EU-imposed sanctions on a former Ukrainian official for lack of evidence of wrongdoing, placing in doubt the broader, fledgling EU effort to penalize officials from the previous Ukrainian regime.
EU Orders Fiat, Starbucks to Pay Extra Taxes

October 28, 2015

European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager has ordered European car company Fiat and US coffee chain Starbucks tens of millions of euros in extra taxes to Luxembourg and Dutch tax authorities, respectively, alleging that these countries' tax deals with the companies were invalid under EU law.
EU Parliament Seeks Data Protection in New US Deal

October 21, 2015

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution welcoming the Court of Justice of the EU's recent invalidation of the EU's "Safe Harbour" data deal with the US and has threatened to withhold funds from the European Commission if it does not negotiate a new deal that ramps up data protections for Europeans.
EU Seeks to Facilitate Police Exchange of Personal Data

October 16, 2015

The Council of the EU has announced that it has agreed to its negotiating position on a draft directive that would both provide standards for the protection of personal data and facilitate its exchange among law-enforcement authorities across the EU.