Căutare

In September 2021, the Commission launched a REFIT initiative to assess the implementation of Directive 2011/93/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, with a view to revising it. This appraisal takes stock of reports published by the Commission, positions adopted and analyses submitted by EU institutions and agencies, and the relevant European Court of Human Rights case law. The directive requires the EU Member States to criminalise a series of ...

Consular protection is one of the rights derived from EU citizenship, a fundamental right in the EU legal framework. Directive 2015/637 on the coordination and cooperation measures to facilitate consular protection for unrepresented EU citizens in third countries obliges any Member State to offer unrepresented EU citizens in third countries the same protection as it provides for its own nationals. In practice, unrepresented EU citizens can seek assistance, for instance, an emergency travel document ...

Citizenship education has become an education policy priority at EU level. The goal is to enable young people to develop self-awareness as members of a social group, and then possibly play a role and become active citizens at local, national or EU level. Similarly, the EU Member States have been placing a stronger focus on the teaching of values such as democracy and tolerance in their national educational policies, although this is not yet translating into practice in a systematic way. School curricula ...

This appraisal assesses two regulations for intellectual property rights applicable to the specific case of medicinal products and plant protection products – the Supplementary Protection Certificate Regulations (SPC Regulations for short). The analysis highlights the outcome of the European Commission's assessment, discrepancies in implementation between Member States, and the complexity of striking a balance between various interests, since both regulations aim to reconcile public health imperatives ...

Directive 2019/1151/EU on the use of digital tools and processes in company law was the first step towards digitalisation in the area of company law. The directive amended EU company law provisions to enable online formation, registration of branches and filing of documents for limited liability companies. Its purpose was to facilitate such processes and make them cost-effective for businesses, including for cross-border activities. The digitalisation of company law is one aspect of EU digital policy ...

Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims is the benchmark legislation on the fight against trafficking in human beings (human trafficking) at EU level. It is part of a broader policy framework that entails a range of measures aimed at the prevention and prosecution of trafficking in human beings, as well as protection from and establishment of partnerships against this practice. Despite progress in implementing those measures, trafficking ...

The advance passenger information (API) system dates back to 2004, when the Council adopted Directive 2004/82/EC of 29 April 2004 on the obligation of carriers to communicate passenger data to improve border control and fight against irregular migration (the 'API Directive'). New data sharing schemes have since been developed to improve EU border control and migration management and, specifically, fight terrorism and serious crimes. Today, air carriers are required to transfer not only API but also ...

Confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds of crime is a key tool for depriving criminals of ill-gotten gains that could be reinvested in further criminal activities. Directive 2014/42/EU on the freezing and confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds of crime was adopted in 2014 to harmonise the rules by introducing minimum standards. In 2019, following a joint statement by the Parliament and Council, a dedicated staff working document on non-conviction based confiscation measures in the ...

There are two types of intellectual property rights (IPRs): industrial property, which includes patents, trademarks, industrial designs and models, and designations of origin; and copyright, which includes artistic and literary property. Directive 98/71/EC on the legal protection of designs and Regulation (EC) 6/2002 on Community designs (hereinafter Community design legislation or CDL when both texts are addressed simultaneously) are the backbone of EU law on Community designs. The directive set ...

This briefing provides an initial analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the European Commission's impact assessment (IA) accompanying the above-mentioned proposal, which was submitted on 15 December 2021 and referred to the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI). Despite the lack of systematic statistical data, environmental, social and economic damage caused by environmental crimes has been widely documented. Directive 2008/99/EC (the Environmental Crime Directive, ECD) was ...