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This article analyses the functioning of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) as an independent EU body responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to justice those who have committed criminal offences affecting the financial interests of the European Union - a topical issue for both EU institutions and Member States, including Ukraine as a candidate country. The importance of expanding the powers of the EPPO is mentioned in the Political Guidelines for the next European Commission 2024--2029 «Europe's Choice». It points to the need to discuss areas where it is seen necessary to increase the powers of this body to combat cross-border serious crime, including corruption, which affects EU funds and which Member States cannot tackle on their own at the national level. In terms of the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to EU law, accession negotiations and Ukraine's gradual integration into the EU's area of freedom, security and justice. The cooperation and interaction of the Ukrainian state authorities with the EPPO plays a significant role. The European Union's cooperation in the area of freedom, security and justice (hereinafter referred to as the AFSJ) takes place both at the level of the EU and its Member States and is regulated under the Association Agreement between a third country and the EU and its Member States (for the Western Balkan countries - the Stabilisation and Association Agreement). Thus, the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement contains Chapter 3 «Justice, Freedom and Security». The research article analyses the competence of the EPPO, the mandate of the EPPO and the European Anti-Fraud Office was clarified. The article examines the legal framework (Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 (the «EPPO Regulation») and Directive (EU) 2017/1371 (the «PIF Directive»), as well as the procedure and status of accession of EU Member States to the EPPO, including the organisation of the body's work, which is organised at two levels: centralised and decentralised. The authors conclude that Ukraine should join the EPPO after becoming a full member of the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the small village of Nyírmártonfalva in northeastern Hungary, there stands a wooden treetop walkway designed for walking among the tree canopies. Yet, there are no trees around. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated proceedings to investigate this allegedly fraudulent appropriation of the EU common budget. In early August 2024, the Hungarian Office of the Prosecutor General rejected EPPO's jurisdiction. Nonetheless, the EPPO has jurisdiction according to the result theory, accepted also in Hungary, due to the place where the result of an offence occurs.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has just celebrated the third anniversary of the start of its operations. “I am sure you will soon see [the EPPO] is anything but a ‘toothless tiger’”, said Laura Kövesi in an interview in 2021. Sadly, in Bulgaria, a country frequently shaken by scandals implicating abuses of EU funds and known for rampant corruption, the EPPO reminds of a domesticated rather than a fierce wild cat.

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2022 7(3), 1145-1164 | Article | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. Setting the scene: Use and "non-use" of enhanced cooperation. - III. Legal frame-work for enhanced cooperation. - III.1. Establishing of enhanced cooperation. - III.2. The implementation of enhanced cooperation. - IV. On a related note: Pre-Brexit negotiations and differentiation. - V. Outlook: Dusk or dawn for enhanced cooperation? | (Abstract) Enhanced cooperation under art. 20 TEU is a tool introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam to allow a group of at least nine member states to adopt rules of secondary law that binds only these participating States. Introduced as an instrument to tackle problems of a Union of 27 (and more) States, it has only been used on a few occasions. However, its use (and non-use) is not only dependent solely on the number of Union member states. Shifting political attitudes in the member states and - plainly and simply - the legal framework for this tool of differentiate integration influence how and when enhanced cooperation can and will be used as an instrument to overcome deadlocks in negotiation. Against the background of member state practice, the Article sets out to explore the potential of enhanced cooperation.

The study aims to analyze the manner in which the place of the crime should be established in the case of acts committed by legal persons, in the three specific ways: in the object of activity, interest or name of the legal entity. The discussions start from the way in which the guilt of the legal entity is outlined and from the relationship between the legal person and the natural person, human substrate of its criminal liability. Both generic and specific issues will be addressed by reference to categories of offenses (such as those committed online) or the specificities of certain offenses in the case of legal entities. The paper also contains a few remarks on the principles specific to the application of criminal law in space, as well as on the work of the European Public Prosecutor's Office in the case of legal entities, which is transnational and dependent on the place of the crime.

The present contribution reports the current distribution of the Asian scolytine beetle Anisandrus maiche Kurentzov (Curculionidae: Scolytinae, Xyleborini) in Italy. Previously, in the entire European Union, this species was known only from a single specimen collected in the Treviso province of Northeast Italy in 2021. The data presented here considerably increase the distributional range of A. maiche in Italy, and clearly show that this ambrosia beetle species is established and widespread in at least two northern Italian regions, namely Lombardy and Veneto. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Legal Thought / Pravna Misao is the property of Legal Thought / Pravna Misao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Simple Summary: The collapse of the honey bee colonies is a complex phenomenon in which different factors may participate in an interrelated manner (e.g., pathogen interactions, exposure to chemicals, beekeeping practices, climatology, etc.). In light of the current debate regarding the interpretation of field and monitoring studies in prospective risk assessments, here we studied how exposure to thiamethoxam affects honey bee colonies in Central Spain when applied as a seed treatment to winter oilseed rape, according to the good agricultural practice in place prior to the EU restrictions. Under the experimental conditions, exposure to thiamethoxam, alone or in combination with other stressors, did not generate and maintain sufficient chronic stress as to provoke honey bee colony collapse. The stress derived from exposure to thiamethoxam and honey bee pathogens was compensated by adjustments in the colony's dynamics, and by an increase in the worker bee population, a behavior known as hormesis. An analysis of the factors underlying this phenomenon should be incorporated into the prospective risk assessment of plant protection products in order to improve the future interpretation of field studies and management practices. To study the influence of thiamethoxam exposure on colony strength and pathogen prevalence, an apiary (5 colonies) was placed in front of a plot sown with winter oilseed rape (wOSR), just before the flowering phase. Before sowing, the seeds were treated with an equivalent application of 18 g thiamethoxam/ha. For comparison, a second apiary (5 colonies) was located in front of a separate 750 m plot sown with untreated wOSR. Dead foragers at the entrance of hives were assessed every 2–3 days throughout the exposure period, while the colony strength (number of combs covered with adult honey bees and brood) and pathogens were monitored each month until the following spring. Foraging on the wOSR crop was confirmed by melissopalynology determination of the corbicular pollen collected periodically, while the chemical analysis showed that exposure to thiamethoxam was mainly through nectar. There was an increase in the accumulation of dead bees in the apiary exposed to thiamethoxam relating with the control, which was coped with an increment of bee brood surface and adult bee population. However, we did not find statistically significant differences between apiaries (α = 0.05) in terms of the evolution of pathogens. We discuss these results under hormesis perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2020 5(3), 1247-1250 | Article | (Abstract) As European Union competences gradually increase, criminal law is one of the areas of EU law on which most attention is focused. At the heart of this field, criminal procedural law is made particularly interesting by its position at the intersection of two sectors that were traditionally excluded from the European Union's harmonisation competences: criminal law and procedural law. Harmonisation and the "cross-fertilisation" of criminal procedural law is happening first through the influence of technical and institutional adjustments necessary to improve communication and cooperation between judicial authorities or to accommodate new actors such as the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), second through the establishment of common (or, in any case, compatible) procedural standards as a necessary complement in order to ensure the efficiency of cooperation mechanisms. Although the agenda set in the Tampere8 and Stockholm9 programmes remains the main source of inspiration for EU interventions in criminal procedural law, the changing political landscape has led to greater importance being given to topics such as terrorism and the need to preserve the rule of law. This Special Section is the result of a conference held at the University of Nantes on 6 and 7 February 2020, titled Towards European Criminal Procedural Law. It includes most of the papers presented at the event, focusing on two main themes: the systemic requirements for a European law of criminal procedure and the different instruments and rules contributing to the emergence of this new field of European law.

The newly established European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) took up its operational work on 1 June 2021. The Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 had been under negotiations from 2013 until 2017 and was eventually adopted as an instrument of enhanced cooperation. Following the entry into force of the EPPO Regulation, intense work had commenced on the EU level as well as in the participating Member States to prepare the practical set-up of operations. Since the EPPO's College was appointed in summer of 2020, it has enacted numerous College decisions, implementing the EPPO Regulation and specifying internal procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, 22 Member States are participating in enhanced cooperation for establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office. Due to the fact that the establishment and exercise of powers of the European Public Prosecutor's Office significantly changes the current concept of EU criminal law, it was necessary for the participating Member States to adapt to this change. To ensure effective application of the Regulation in practice, the Member States had to adopt different implementing measures. As in other Member States, also the national authorities of the Slovak Republic needed to consider necessary legislative measures ensuring effective application of the EPPO Regulation for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting criminal offences affecting financial interests of the EU.

This research analyzes comprehensively the perspectives of the emergence of European transnational justice on the anti-corruption and anti-fraud dimension. Following the analysis of jurisprudence, the normative framework, trends and historical evolution, both in the member states of the European Union, in their relation with the institutions of the Union, as well as the relation of the Union with the third states, it is considered that the involvement, or the interest of supranational institutions, as well as of the Union as a whole, for the defense of its financial interests is inevitable. The involvement through the financing of the various projects, the allocation of different funds or, as a generic category, their management, will be closely monitored. When elaborating on the findings and conclusions, the emphasis was placed on analysis and synthesis, forecasting method, and in some aspects, it was attempted to extrapolate, or to extend in the future, the dynamics and expected results, with emphasis on investigations in third countries, within the meaning of the conventional framework. The theoretical and scientific support of the paper is extensive, applying the logical, historical, comparative and systemic methods of research.

Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 of 12 October 2017 implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (“the EPPO”) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 31 October 2017. The Czech Republic decided to establish enhanced cooperation in this area and to participate in the project of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. This has caused a need to prepare Czech legal order for the Regulation in question to be applied without any major problems. This paper aims to capture, emphasize and explain at least the basic and most important changes brought about by the adaptation of the Czech legal order.

One of the essentials aims of the ECA’s special report on fighting fraud in spending EU funds is improving the correlation between the European Union law and national legal systems of Member States and developing cooperation of EU authorities with Member States in its implementation. The first part of the article describes the basic regulations of the EU law on fighting against financial fraud in spending EU budget funds. In the second part, the assessment of operations of the EU bodies (especially the European Commission) and suggested recommendations are presented. The example of Poland describes a diversified situation in the matters of fighting financial fraud in the EU spending in particular Member States.

Reliable and rapid diagnostic methods are essential to support inspection activities conducted by National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) in the framework of their official mandate, and to evaluate the efficacy of control measures taken. Since 1998 the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) has been supporting the harmonization of diagnostic methods for regulated pests in the EPPO region through the development of technical standards. In order to increase active collaboration among the organizations involved in plant health research activities at the national and regional levels, Euphresco (European Phytosanitary Research Coordination) was established in 2006 and funded by the EU as an ERA-NET project. Euphresco has subsequently evolved into a self-sustaining international network hosted by EPPO. This paper describes the EPPO diagnostic programme. It will also provide some examples of research projects funded through Euphresco that have provided valuable support for the development of pest-specific diagnostic protocols and will show how NPPOs can shape the research agenda of research funders and help to identify gaps to be addressed through transnational collaboration.

The Directive on the Protection of the Financial Interests of the European Union ("PIF Directive") has significantly increased the powers and the tools for conducting investigations concerning financial criminality in many Member States of the European Union. This is both in terms of substantive criminal law (including the elements of the criminal offence and the penalties) and in terms of procedures extending the reach of investigative acts and their use (e.g., the seizure and freezing of assets). The Directive is also of enormous importance for the exercise of the competences by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). Not only because of the aforementioned tools and powers but also in the light of cross border investigations, which would benefit greatly from harmonization between Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to provide an overview of the European legislative framework regarding the newly established European Public Prosecutor's Office, highlighting some of the critical aspects in regard to its functioning and providing a comparative analysis of the Italian and Romanian legislation enacted to adapt the national legal system to the Council Regulation 2017/1939. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Public Prosecutor's Office was established under enhanced cooperation in 2017, as a new body in the institutional system of the European Union. The establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office changes the EU criminal law in a significant way, as it is the first body of the European Union, which will undertake its own investigations of criminal offences affecting the financial interests of the EU, carry out acts of prosecution and exercise the functions of prosecutor in the competent courts of the Member States.

Potato cyst nematodes (PCN), such as Globodera rostochiensis and Globodera pallida, are quarantine restricted pests of potato causing major yield and financial losses to farmers. G. rostochiensis was first reported from Kenya’s key potato growing area in 2015. We sought to determine the diversity, prevalence and distribution of PCN species across the country by conducting a country-wide survey between 2016 and 2018, which included a more focused, follow-up assessment in three key potato growing counties. A total of 1,348 soil samples were collected from 20 potato growing counties. Information regarding local potato farming practices, potato cultivar use, their diversity and availability was also recorded. PCN cysts were obtained from 968 samples (71.8%) in all the counties surveyed, with Nyandarua County recording the highest PCN field-incidence at 47.6%. The majority of PCN populations, 99.9%, were identified as G. rostochiensis, while G. pallida was recovered from just one field, in a mixed population with G. rostochiensis. Inconsistencies in PCR amplification efficiency was observed for G. rostochiensis using the recommended EPPO primers, compared with ITS primers AB28/TW81, indicating that this protocol cannot be entirely relied upon to effectively detect PCN. Egg density in Nyandarua County varied between 30.6 and 158.5 viable eggs/g soil, with an average egg viability of 78.9 ± 2.8% (min = 11.6%, max = 99.9%). The PCN-susceptible potato cultivar named Shangi was the most preferred and used by 65% of farmers due to its shorter dormancy and cooking time, while imported cultivars (Destiny, Jelly, Manitou, and Markies) with resistance to G. rostochiensis were used by 7.5% of farmers due to unavailability and/or limited access to seeds. Thus, most farmers preferred using their own farm-saved seeds as opposed to purchasing certified seeds. Establishing the distribution and prevalence of PCN and elucidating the local farming practices that could promote the spread of PCN is a necessary precursor to the implementation of any containment or management strategy in the country and ultimately across the region.

In this paper we will discuss the presence of procedural safeguards in the specific context of EPPO cross-border investigation between participating Member States, non-participating Member States and third countries. The various sources of the safeguards will be identified in the EPPO Regulation, other European Instruments and mutual legal assistance international conventions. We will then probe the extent of these procedural safeguards and their efficacy by reviewing the state of play of other instruments of judicial cooperation used in the area of freedom, security and justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Money laundering - autonomous offense. Material object of the offense: archeological goods and amounts of money subject to a recycling process. Material element of the objective side. Alternative ways of committing the offense through acquiring and illegal placing, on the legal antiquities market, as well as changing and transferring through sales, goods previously stolen from archeological sites, while knowing they were the product of qualified theft of goods pertaining to the national cultural heritage, unauthorized for export. Subjective side, difference from concealment. Changing or transferring cultural goods, while kowing they are the product of certain offenses, with the purpose of concealing the illicit nature of these goods through forgery and attributing a false origin, as pertaining to private collections - or with the purpose of helping the author of the offense from which the goods originated to evade prosecution, judgement or execution of the sentence; acquiring, holding or using goods by another person beside the active subject of the offense from which the goods originate, while knowing they are the product of crime. The civil side. Oligation of the defendant to pay the civil damages consisting of the expenses made by the Romanian State as compensation for the repatriation of the artifacts that were stolen, acquired and illegally transferred on the antiquities market. Special confiscation of the product of the crime: archeological artifacts - bronze tables of Roman laws and a lot of Koson gold coins - stolen from sites and recycled as pieces of private collections; money resulted from the valorisation of the stolen artifacts. Ne bis in idem? Decision to end the criminal trial - given by the judicial control court, based on the wrong ascertainment of the inexistance of the special prescription institution of criminal liability. Instruments of international judicial cooperation: European Evidence Warrant (EEW), UNIDROIT Convention. Content analysis of the legal document Lex municipalis Troesmensium. (Alba Iulia Court of Appeal, Criminal Section, decision no. 333/11.06.2020, pronounced in the file no. 1335/97/2017*). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potato cyst nematodes (PCN), such as Globodera rostochiensis and Globodera pallida , are quarantine restricted pests of potato causing major yield and financial losses to farmers. G. rostochiensis was first reported from Kenya's key potato growing area in 2015. We sought to determine the diversity, prevalence and distribution of PCN species across the country by conducting a country-wide survey between 2016 and 2018, which included a more focused, follow-up assessment in three key potato growing counties. A total of 1,348 soil samples were collected from 20 potato growing counties. Information regarding local potato farming practices, potato cultivar use, their diversity and availability was also recorded. PCN cysts were obtained from 968 samples (71.8%) in all the counties surveyed, with Nyandarua County recording the highest PCN field-incidence at 47.6%. The majority of PCN populations, 99.9%, were identified as G. rostochiensis , while G. pallida was recovered from just one field, in a mixed population with G. rostochiensis. Inconsistencies in PCR amplification efficiency was observed for G. rostochiensis using the recommended EPPO primers, compared with ITS primers AB28/TW81, indicating that this protocol cannot be entirely relied upon to effectively detect PCN. Egg density in Nyandarua County varied between 30.6 and 158.5 viable eggs/g soil, with an average egg viability of 78.9 ± 2.8% (min = 11.6%, max = 99.9%). The PCN-susceptible potato cultivar named Shangi was the most preferred and used by 65% of farmers due to its shorter dormancy and cooking time, while imported cultivars (Destiny, Jelly, Manitou, and Markies) with resistance to G. rostochiensis were used by 7.5% of farmers due to unavailability and/or limited access to seeds. Thus, most farmers preferred using their own farm-saved seeds as opposed to purchasing certified seeds. Establishing the distribution and prevalence of PCN and elucidating the local farming practices that could promote the spread of PCN is a necessary precursor to the implementation of any containment or management strategy in the country and ultimately across the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Croatian Annual of Criminal Sciences & Practice / Hrvatski Ljetopis za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu is the property of Hrvatsko Udruzenje za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Croatian Annual of Criminal Sciences & Practice / Hrvatski Ljetopis za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu is the property of Hrvatsko Udruzenje za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article addresses some theoretical and practical problems concerning coordination between the EPPO and national prosecuting authorities, seen from the Croatian perspective. Since investigations of the EPPO will be conducted according to national law, their efficiency will depend on the efficiency of national legal systems, but also on the efficiency of the EPPO's coordination with national authorities. There are two basic principles that regulate coordination between the EPPO and competent national prosecuting authorities: the principle of shared competence and the principle of sincere cooperation, meaning that the EPPO and national prosecuting authorities should work together and with the same goals, which implies mutual trust, loyalty and intense communication. Still, the EPPO exercises priority competence, which is reflected in its right of evocation. The analysis of some challenges to the system of shared competence and sincere cooperation, considered from the perspective of current Croatian criminal procedure legislation, shows that the complementarity principle may be a useful tool in regulating coordination between the EPPO and Croatian prosecuting authorities in specific situations where the EPPO must decide whether to use the right of evocation, although existing language barriers may reduce its practical utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the role of Europol in the implementation of the EPPO Regulation and analyses the potential challenges for law enforcement in Croatia. For this purpose, a comparative method is used and future ideas for the practical implementation of the Regulation within Europol are presented. Part of the paper focuses on explaining the legal background of the work of the EPPO and its relation to Europol and Croatia. It then explains the challenges and opportunities for Europol after the EPPO becomes fully operational, including Europol analytical capacities, the possibilities for information exchange (SIENA), and Europol innovation capacities. In conclusion, the paper analyses concrete challenges and offers solutions for different problems that may arise in future relations between Europol and the EPPO. An outline is also given of the priorities of the Presidency of Croatia of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020 related to financial investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Croatian Annual of Criminal Sciences & Practice / Hrvatski Ljetopis za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu is the property of Hrvatsko Udruzenje za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Croatian Annual of Criminal Sciences & Practice / Hrvatski Ljetopis za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu is the property of Hrvatsko Udruzenje za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Croatian Annual of Criminal Sciences & Practice / Hrvatski Ljetopis za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu is the property of Hrvatsko Udruzenje za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Croatian Annual of Criminal Sciences & Practice / Hrvatski Ljetopis za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu is the property of Hrvatsko Udruzenje za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Croatian Annual of Criminal Sciences & Practice / Hrvatski Ljetopis za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu is the property of Hrvatsko Udruzenje za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 of 12 October 2017 implementing enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office ("the EPPO") was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 31 October 2017. The Czech Republic decided to establish enhanced cooperation in this area and to participate in the project of the European Public Prosecutor's Office. This has caused a need to prepare Czech legal order for the Regulation in question to be applied without any major problems. This paper aims to capture, emphasize and explain at least the basic and most important changes brought about by the adaptation of the Czech legal order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Croatian Annual of Criminal Sciences & Practice / Hrvatski Ljetopis za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu is the property of Hrvatsko Udruzenje za Kaznene Znanosti i Praksu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Management Issues / Problemy Zarządzania is the property of Problemy Zarzadzania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

On 19 June 2018, the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council, the European Parliament, and the European Commission agreed on the new Eurojust Regulation. The EU ambassadors con- firmed the agreement on 20 June 2018 followed by final adoption of the Regulation in November 2018. This paper refers to the novelties introduced by the new Regulation as well as to the projection of relations between agencies after the finalization of OLAF and EPPO competencies. The authors are analysing current modalities for their cooperation on institutional, operational and administrative levels. Will Eurojust become obsolete and possibly a department in the European Public Prosecutor's Office or two differentiated bodies that have a future with separated competencies, independent of each other? What role will OLAF play in relation to both agencies, and what impacts will this have on national criminal justice systems? The authors analyse possible scenarios and point to perceived overlapping in competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The article is devoted to the problem of financial abuses and frauds that undermines the public finances of EU and public interest.Motivation: The problem is not new and it is known for several years. There is no doubt that investments funded by the EU are common. A huge amount of EU money is also a huge temptation and purpose of economic crimes. Over the years, the EU and the Member States already took some action to prevent from embezzlement of the EU budget. Until now, the main institution that coordinated the fight against these phenomena was the European Commission and its structure, especially the European Anti-Fraud Office. Fighting against economic crimes violating the interests of the EU is difficult for the procedural reasons. European investigators have no prosecuting power. Investigative role is limited to gathering evidence and transferring it to the national prosecuting authorities. After that European investigators lose the control over conducted case. The Treaty on the functioning of the European Union gives us another tool to fight the frauds. It seems that the solution is to establish the European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO) with full procedural rights to prosecute violators. That’s why the general thesis is that EPPO should be established as soon as it is possible to help prevent EU citizens money in more effective way than it is today. However this could be a contribution for the next article concerning the economic analysis of the law and the impact of new regulations on security funds entrusted to the EU.Results: The idea of establishing an EPPO has almost 10 years and was initiated in the connection with the latest financial crisis. Unfortunately, despite declarations and attempts to start it in January 2015 it is still not known if and when it will actually work. The article also takes the issue of commitment and various visions of the Member States of achieving the EU budget safety and other problems on this ground.

The issue of admissibility of evidence has been regulated only very scarcely in the EU. Judicial cooperation in criminal matters has been embracing the increasing number of instruments, covering plethora of aspects, however, the field of admissibility of evidence remains almost untouched. Can the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice be called the Common Evidence Area? From the national perspective, the issue of admissibility of evidence is still subject to divergent solutions in the Member States, concerning the common law and continental law systems, i.e. the right of access to a lawyer. Thus, the paper aims to take into account the tendencies of legal rule in matter of admissibility of evidence, the dynamic of evidence movement within EU area.

Seed dormancy determines the timing of seed germination and may be released by dry storage, also referred to as after-ripening. Studies on dormancy-release mechanisms are often hampered by the long after-ripening requirements of seeds. After-ripening is thought to be mainly caused by oxidative processes during seed dry storage. These processes are also the main cause of seed ageing. Increasing partial oxygen pressure through the elevated partial pressure of oxygen (EPPO) system has been shown to mimic and accelerate dry seed ageing. In this study, we investigated whether the EPPO system may also release primary seed dormancy in Arabidopsis thaliana. EPPO mimics dry after-ripening at the genetic level, as quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis after EPPO treatment identified the DELAY OF GERMINATION loci DOG1, DOG2, and DOG6 that were first described in a study using dry after-ripening to release seed dormancy. QTL analysis also showed that dormancy release by cold stratification (another common method to break seed dormancy) partly overlaps with release by after-ripening and EPPO treatment. We conclude that EPPO is an appropriate method to mimic and accelerate dormancy release and, as such, may have applications in both research and industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Erwinia amylovora, the fire blight pathogen, can survive in plants and produce latent infections that can lead to false negative results in routine diagnostic procedures, since the pathogen can be present at very low numbers under the detection limit of available techniques. A protocol combining different techniques included in the EPPO diagnostic standard for E. amylovora (2013) was designed in order to determine the minimum amount of plants necessary for detecting the pathogen in asymptomatic plant material. To this aim, single samples of flowers and shoots from pear, apple, and loquat were spiked with an E. amylovora strain at different concentrations, and then analyzed by isolation, real-time PCR and ELISA-DASI. Thereafter, using the single spiked samples that were positive for any of the techniques used, composite spiked samples were prepared by adding to single spiked samples increasing amounts of plant material. Interestingly, whole results show that the most robust technique, less affected by the amount of plant material, was the real-time PCR after enrichment, since 10¹-10² cfu ml-1 of E. amylovora could be detected in most cases, both in flowers and in shoots, regardless of the amount of simulated plants analyzed, 3, 5, 10 or 20. The enrichment was confirmed as a necessary step in the analysis of bulked samples to achieve a greater sensitivity. This study is a relevant contribution for programs of extensive screening surveys for prevention of fire blight disease, since it shows that samples can be processed as a pool, improving the detection of E. amylovora in asymptomatic samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species distribution models may provide realistic scenarios to explain the influence of bioclimatic variables in the context of emerging plant pathogens. Xylella fastidiosa is a xylem-limited Gram-negative bacterium causing severe diseases in many plant species. We developed a maximum entropy model for X. fastidiosa in Italy. Our objectives were to carry out a preliminary analysis of the species’ potential geographical distribution and determine which eco-geographical variables may favour its presence in other Italian regions besides Apulia. The analysis of single variable contribution showed that precipitation of the driest (40.3%) and wettest (30.4%) months were the main factors influencing model performance. Altitude, precipitation of warmest quarter, mean temperature of coldest quarter, and land cover provided a total contribution of 19.5%. Based on the model predictions, X. fastidiosa has a high probability (> 0.8) of colonizing areas characterized by: i) low altitude (0–150 m a.s.l.); ii) precipitations in the driest month < 10 mm, in the wettest month ranging between 80–110 mm and during the warmest quarter < 60 mm; iii) mean temperature of coldest quarter ≥ 8°C; iv) agricultural areas comprising intensive agriculture, complex cultivation patterns, olive groves, annual crops associated with permanent crops, orchards and vineyards; forest (essentially oak woodland); and Mediterranean shrubland. Species distribution models showed a high probability of X. fastidiosa occurrence in the regions of Apulia, Calabria, Basilicata, Sicily, Sardinia and coastal areas of Campania, Lazio and south Tuscany. Maxent models achieved excellent levels of predictive performance according to area under curve (AUC), true skill statistic (TSS) and minimum difference between training and testing AUC data (AUCdiff). Our study indicated that X. fastidiosa has the potential to overcome the current boundaries of distribution and affect areas of Italy outside Apulia.

Aim: The article is devoted to the problem of financial abuses and frauds that undermines the public finances of EU and public interest. Motivation: The problem is not new and it is known for several years. There is no doubt that investments funded by the EU are common. A huge amount of EU money is also a huge temptation and purpose of economic crimes. Over the years, the EU and the Member States already took some action to prevent from embezzlement of the EU budget. Until now, the main institution that coordinated the fight against these phenomena was the European Commission and its structure, especially the European Anti-Fraud Office. Fighting against economic crimes violating the interests of the EU is difficult for the procedural reasons. European investigators have no prosecuting power. Investigative role is limited to gathering evidence and transferring it to the national prosecuting authorities. After that European investigators lose the control over conducted case. The Treaty on the functioning of the European Union gives us another tool to fight the frauds. It seems that the solution is to establish the European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO) with full procedural rights to prosecute violators. That's why the general thesis is that EPPO should be established as soon as it is possible to help prevent EU citizens money in more effective way than it is today. However this could be a contribution for the next article concerning the economic analysis of the law and the impact of new regulations on security funds entrusted to the EU. Results: The idea of establishing an EPPO has almost 10 years and was initiated in the connection with the latest financial crisis. Unfortunately, despite declarations and attempts to start it in January 2015 it is still not known if and when it will actually work. The article also takes the issue of commitment and various visions of the Member States of achieving the EU budget safety and other problems on this ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species distribution models may provide realistic scenarios to explain the influence of bioclimatic variables in the context of emerging plant pathogens. Xylella fastidiosa is a xylem-limited Gram-negative bacterium causing severe diseases in man}' plant species. We developed a maximum entropy model for X. fastidiosa in Italy. Our objectives were to carry out a preliminary analysis of the species' potential geographical distribution and determine which eco-geographical variables ma}' favour its presence in other Italian regions besides Apulia. The analysis of single variable contribution showed that precipitation of the driest (40.3%) and wettest (30.4%) months were the main factors influencing model performance. Altitude, precipitation of warmest quarter, mean temperature of coldest quarter, and land cover provided a total contribution of 19.5%. Based on the model predictions, X. fastidiosa has a high probability (> 0.8) of colonizing areas characterized by: i) low altitude (0-150 m a.s.L); ii) precipitations iii the driest month < 10 mm, in the wettest month ranging between 80-110 mm and during the warmest quarter < 60 mm; iii) mean temperature of coldest quarter ⩾ 8°C; iv) agricultural areas comprising intensive agriculture, complex cultivation patterns, olive groves, annual crops associated with permanent crops, orchards and vineyards; forest (essentially oak woodland); and Mediterranean shrubland. Species distribution models showed a high probability of X fastidiosa occurrence in the regions of Apulia, Calabria, Rasiiicata, Sicily, Sardinia and coastal areas of Campania, Lazio and south Tuscany. Maxent models achieved excellent levels of predictive performance according to area under curve (AUC), true skill statistic (TSS) and minimum difference between training and testing AUC data (AUCdiff). Our study indicated that X. fastidiosa has the potential to overcome the current boundaries of distribution and affect areas of Italy outside Apuiia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debate about a European Public Prosecutor's Office still lacks a sound evidential basis. Reliable information about (1) the extent of fraud against the EU's financial interests, and (2) the extent of cross-border elements in fraud against those interests, is not readily available. Given this evidence gap, attention should focus on improving data collection and capturing casework experience. Eurojust has an important role to play in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was commenced in 2005 to provide a validated diagnostic test for the detection of Blackcurrant reversion virus (BRV) to be used as an alternative to the conventional test recommended for use in the UK certification scheme. A range of cultivars previously virus indexed and held as nuclear stock (Baldwin, Ben Lomond and Ben Tirran) were grafted with known BRV-positive scions and assessed over the following four years. Data was collected through visual observations and buds sampled and tested with a single round RT-PCR using two new primer sets. For the method to be accepted for use in Scotland the detection rate must be equal or better than that of the existing grafting method. Statistical analysis of our results for the detection of both the European (E) and Russian (R) forms of Reversion disease in the three cultivars provides a validation for this test. We suggest that this method provides a faster throughput test for BRV even when no symptoms are visible on the plants, and so is suitable for adoption into the guidelines followed by both UK and European authorities for detection of BRV in blackcurrant propagation material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pierce's Disease (PD) is a lethal disease of grapevines (Vitis vinifera) caused by a strain of the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. At the end of the 1990s, PD spread rapidly in California after accidental introduction of the non-native vector glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homalodisca coagulata). The new vector, which prefers citrus as a host for reproduction and overwintering, transmits the bacteria very efficiently to a large variety of plants and is a threat not only to the state's production of grapes, but also to large-scale cultivation of, e.g., almonds and peaches. In order to stop the spread of the new vector and protect the wine industry from PD, quarantine measures have been put into effect and several research projects concerning pest management strategies have been initiated. From a European perspective, interesting results have been achieved by the use of a climate model. This model predicts that cold stress accumulation would exclude PD within wine-producing regions of Europe. However, some reports suggest the existence of cold-tolerant X. fastidiosa PD-causing strains, which could exhibit an invasion potential. Because of global trade and the fact that both the bacterium and the vector are associated with a large number of plant families, other temperate areas such as those in parts of Europe where grape and citrus production dominate are now under threat. The European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) has decided to consider H. coagulata a serious threat and is currently asking member countries to pay particular attention to this organism. From experience gained in California, H. coagulata needs to be combated using a palette of measures. Suggested initiatives to prevent introduction to Europe could involve quarantine and/or phytosanitary regulations and consideration of tourist traffic regulation between, for instance, Europe and North America and between Europe and Polynesia. However, current phytosanitary regulatory policies in California indicate that such regulations are not sufficient to prevent outbreaks. Preparation of action plans to be followed in the event of an outbreak should therefore carefully take note of the experience gained so far in deciding which eradication measures should be implemented and at which level of infestation. In the following, the spread of PD is presented and discussed with respect to previous experiences. Knowledge generated within California, such as such use of clay particle sprays and physical barriers and biological control with egg parasitoids, is suggested to be an important tool for European viticulturalists to combat potential outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In many biological risk assessment problems and specifically those involving invasive alien species and quarantine pests, ordinal scoring systems are used as a basis for risk quantification. Frequently, the problem is disaggregated into a series of components to allow a more structured and systematic evaluation. Each component is then scored and an overall measure of risk calculated from the set of scores. No satisfactory method exists to compute an overall measure of risk and most practitioners have resorted to score-averaging. Here we describe an approach involving the linear mapping of scores to notional probabilities to allow the use of conditional probability to derive an overall measure. Initial results give better discrimination between high and low risk cases and closer correspondence with independent expert judgement than does score-averaging. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Seed deterioration is driven by oxidative processes. • Seed longevity research is hampered by the lack of an accurate phenotyping tool. • The Elevated Partial Pressure of Oxygen method shows to best mimic lab bench ageing. • Also under high oxygen pressure relative humidity affects seed ageing. Seed longevity (storability) is an important seed quality trait. High seed quality is important in agriculture, for the industry, and for safeguarding biodiversity as many species are stored as seeds in genebanks. To ensure ex-situ seed survival, seeds are mostly stored at low relative humidity and low temperature. Oxidation is the main cause of seed deterioration in these dry storage conditions. The molecular mechanisms underlying dry seed survival remain poorly understood. Research on seed longevity is hampered by the lack of an experimental ageing method that mimics dry ageing well. Here, we propose the Elevated Partial Pressure of Oxygen (EPPO) method as the best available method to mimic and accelerate dry seed ageing. We have tested seed germination in Arabidopsis thaliana after EPPO storage at two different relative humidity (RH) conditions and confirm the large effect of oxygen and the seed moisture content on ageing during dry storage. Comparative Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis shows that EPPO at 55 % RH mimics dry ageing better than the commonly used Artificial Ageing and Controlled Deterioration tests at higher moisture levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU 7th Framework Program provided funds for Quarantine Barcoding of Life (QBOL) to develop a quick, reliable and accurate DNA barcode-based diagnostic tool for selected species on the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) A1/A2 quarantine lists. Seven nuclear genomic loci were evaluated to determine those best suited for identifying species of Mycosphaerella and/or its associated anamorphs. These genes included β-tubulin (Btub), internal transcribed spacer regions of the nrDNA operon (ITS), 28S nrDNA (LSU), Actin (Act), Calmodulin (Cal), Translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α) and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2). Loci were tested on their Kimura-2-parameter-based inter- and intraspecific variation, PCR amplification success rate and ability to distinguish between quarantine species and closely related taxa. Results showed that none of these loci was solely suited as a reliable barcoding locus for the tested fungi. A combination of a primary and secondary barcoding locus was found to compensate for individual weaknesses and provide reliable identification. A combination of ITS with either EF-1α or Btub was reliable as barcoding loci for EPPO A1/A2-listed Mycosphaerella species. Furthermore, Lecanosticta acicola was shown to represent a species complex, revealing two novel species described here, namely L. brevispora sp. nov. on Pinus sp. from Mexico and L. guatemalensis sp. nov. on Pinus oocarpa from Guatemala. Epitypes were also designated for L. acicola and L. longispora to resolve the genetic application of these names.