Approximation of substantive criminal law in the EU

The way forward

The European Union's efforts to

approximate substantive criminal law

began under the third pillar of the

Maastricht Treaty, then amended by the

Amsterdam and Nice Treaties. As with

other areas of cooperation in criminal

matters, this domain has been

« communitarised » by the Lisbon Treaty.

Since then, it is the area where the most

initiatives hâve been introduced.

In this context, the purpose of the book is

twofold. The first aim is to evaluate the

changes introduced by the new Treaty

and, three years after its entry into force,

to provide an overview of the concrete

implementation and practical impact of

thèse changes. The second is to reflect on

future prospects.

Following an introduction, which

identifies the institutional and décision-

making changes resulting from the Lisbon

Treaty and examines the novel

interactions among European actors, the

book is divided into two main sections.

The first one develops a crosscutting

approach, which can be applied to the

approximation of substantive criminal law

irrespective of any specific domain of

analysis. It draws together reflections on

the importance of fundamental principles

of criminal law ; on the so-called annex-

competence provided for by Article 83(2)

TFEU ; on the role of the approximation of

substantive criminal law with a view to the

establishment of a European Public

Prosecutor's Office ; and on the

development of a general substantive

criminal law for the EU.

The focus of the second part of the book is

on evaluating the impact of EU

approximation instruments in three

selected areas (drug trafficking, terrorist

offences and trafficking in human beings).

In cases where successive EU instruments

have been adopted over time, this second

part will assess whether and to what

extent evaluation processes had an

impact on the drafting of subsequent

provisions.

The edited volume ends with concluding

remarks on the way forward.

This book has been co-written by an

international team mainly composed of

academics and researchers who are

members of ECLAN (the European Criminal

Law Academic Network).