Top five stories you may have missed
FBI honours French police for arresting Luxembourg ex-spy
Two officers of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation visited the French police in Nancy on Thursday to thank them for arresting former Luxembourg intelligence officer Frank Schneider, French media have reported.
The two FBI agents, one an official representative in France, the other a liaison officer at the French embassy in Paris, exchanged gifts and medals as a sign of recognition of the arrest of Schneider, who is mentioned as a co-conspirator in a cryptocurrency scam in a US court.
EU fraud fighters get one case an hour in first week
The EU’s new fraud-fighting agency has received more than 200 reports of alleged crime against the bloc’s budget - equivalent to one every single hour - within its first week in operation.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which officially opened in Luxembourg last week, has registered 230 cases since June 1st, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The number contains only those cases which national authorities have forwarded to EPPO and does not include complaints logged via the agency’s website, where members of the public can report financial crime.
EU takes Luxembourg to court over money laundering rules
The European Commission on Wednesday took Luxembourg to court, asking the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to impose a daily penalty on the country for failing to put new EU rules to stop money laundering into law.
Without the rules on the freezing and confiscation of proceeds of crime, EU and national law enforcement authorities are unable to stop the proceeds from crime from flowing into the legitimate economy, the Commission said. It is also harder for the EU to recover profits from organised crime.
Covid "passport" ready this Sunday for travel, bars
Luxembourg residents can start using Covid-19 certificates this Sunday that will make it easier to access restaurants, attend events and travel abroad, Health Minister Paulette Lenert said on Thursday.
The CovidCheck "passports" will be recognised across all 27 countries of the European Union as well as in Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, said Lenert at a press conference together with digitalisation minister Marc Hansen.
Luxembourg hits Amazon with EU's biggest data fine
Luxembourg’s data protection watchdog has proposed a fine of more than $425 million (€349 million) against Amazon, in what would be the biggest ever penalty under the EU’s privacy law, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday.
The CNPD (Commission Nationale pour la Protection des Données) has circulated a draft decision proposing the fine among the EU’s 26 other data protection authorities, the US business newspaper said in a report.
The Luxembourg Times has a new mobile app, download here! Get the Luxembourg Times delivered to your inbox twice a day. Sign up for your free newsletters here.
