Dr. Joachim Nagel, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, delivered a welcome message at the 2023 symposium “Ensuring the supply of cash – including in times of crisis” in Berlin, Germany. Ladies and gentlemen, a very warm welcome to our symposium. I’m glad you could make it! As the world around us becomes increasingly digital, it’s often the case that payment instruments other than cash, like cards, smartphones and online payments, grab all the attention. That’s why some regard cash as outdated – just as bicycles were considered old-fashioned when cars and motorcycles became more widespread, or printed books in the era of e-books. But the truth of the matter is that cash continues to be fairly popular here in Germany. In terms of transaction numbers, cash remains the most widely used means of payment at the point of sale, as our latest payment behaviour study shows.  Continue reading…

The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – the ESAs) have launched a public consultation on the first batch of policy products under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). This includes four draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) and one set of draft implementing technical standards (ITS). These technical standards aim to ensure a consistent and harmonised legal framework in the areas of ICT risk management, major ICT-related incident reporting and ICT third-party risk management. The consultation runs until 11 September 2023. Continue reading…

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Eurojust’s role in fighting core international crimes was significantly enhanced in 2022, says the Agency’s Annual Report, published on 24 May. Just weeks after the outbreak of the war, the Agency provided essential support to the set-up of a joint investigation team (JIT) into alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Subsequently, Eurojust’s mandate was rapidly extended to allow the Agency to store and analyse evidence on core international crimes. By the end of the year, the European Commission asked Eurojust to host the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA).  Continue reading…

The Commission has proposed new rules to help companies, especially small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), make the most of their inventions, leverage new technologies and contribute to the EU’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty. The proposed Regulations on standard essential patents, compulsory licensing of patents in crisis situations, and the revision of the legislation on supplementary protection certificates will create a more transparent, effective and futureproof intellectual property rights framework. Intangible assets like brands, designs, patents and data are increasingly important in today’s knowledge economy. Intellectual property (IP) is a key driver for economic growth as it helps companies gain value from their intangible assets. IP-intensive industries account for almost half of all GDP and over 90% of all EU exports. In the period 2017–2019, nearly 76% of intra-EU trade was generated by patent-intensive industries.
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The seven members of the Eurojust-supported joint investigation team (JIT) on alleged core international crimes committed in Ukraine have agreed to not only investigate alleged war crimes, but also crimes of genocide committed in Ukraine. In a working meeting of the JIT that took place in Vilnius, Lithuania, during 13-14 April, the JIT also welcomed the U.S. Department of Justice’s pledge to second a prosecutor to the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA).

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Genesis Market has been taken down in an operation involving judicial and law enforcement authorities in the United States, nine European Union countries, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Genesis Market was a criminal marketplace accessible on the dark web and clear web that sold packages of account access credentials – including usernames and passwords for email, bank accounts, and social media. The credentials had been stolen from malware-infected computers around the world and were subsequently used by cybercriminals to commit cyber-enabled fraud. In a coordinated action supported by Eurojust and Europol, the infrastructure and operations of Genesis Market were dismantled and law enforcement in 13 countries conducted more than 100 arrests and more than 200 searches of Genesis Market customers who had purchased stolen access credentials.

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The Commission has presented a set of actions aimed to make Gigabit connectivity available to all citizens and businesses across the EU by 2030, in line with the objectives of Europe’s Digital Decade, and to enable the transformation of the connectivity sector in the EU. The recent initiatives on Connectivity consist of: First, the Commission has adopted a proposal for a ‘Gigabit Infrastructure Act’, a regulation that will put forward new rules to enable faster, cheaper and more effective rollout of Gigabit networks across the EU. Second, it has published a draft Gigabit Recommendation, which seeks to provide guidance to National Regulatory Authorities on the conditions of access to telecom networks of operators with significant market power, in order to incentivise faster switch-off of legacy technologies and accelerated Gigabit networks deployment. Third, the Commission has launched an exploratory consultation on the future of the connectivity sector and its infrastructure, to gather views on how increasing demands for connectivity and technological advances may affect the future developments and needs. Continue reading…

Judicial and law enforcement authorities in the Netherlands and Germany have dealt another blow to the use of encrypted communications by criminal networks. Eurojust and Europol have supported the dismantling of the Exclu application, which had an estimated 3 000 users, including members of organised crime groups (OCGs). During an action day last week, 45 arrests took place in the Netherlands and Belgium. The arrested persons included users of the application, but also administrators and owners of the Exclu service. Furthermore, 79 locations were searched in the Netherlands, Germany and Poland. Following this operation, the service is no longer available for users.

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On 13 December, the Commission proposed new rules to strengthen the use of Advance Passenger Information (API) data. This proposal is one of the key actions identified in the EU Security Union Strategy. The EU continues its progress in strengthening its overall security architecture, which aims to enhance EU citizens’ protection, as shown also in the Fifth Security Union Progress Report. The report highlights three years of solid progress in implementing the Security Union Strategy. It shows that significant steps have been made in strengthening the protection of critical infrastructures from physical, cyber and hybrid attacks, in fighting terrorism and radicalisation, as well as in the fight against organised crime. Continue reading…

The Operational Board of the European Fund for Sustainable Development plus (EFSD+) has today given a positive opinion to €6.05 billion in financial guarantees to support 40 investment programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin American and Asia Pacific. The guarantees are expected to generate more than €50 billion in investments in key sectors of Global Gateway, such as renewable energy, digital infrastructure and climate resilience and health. The package also includes a new green bond programme. The programmes will be implemented by European Financial Institutions, such as the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and national development banks. In total, 20 financial partners participate in the EFSD+ guarantee programme, seven of which for the first time. The EFSD+ is a financing tool of Global Gateway, and the financing arm of the EU’s Neighbourhood Development, International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) – Global Europe. It de-risks investments with budgetary guarantees and thus attracts more private investment to emerging and developing country markets.
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