Dear Readers, The year 2017 has brought and will hopefully lead to further major steps in the development of a true European Criminal Justice Area, particularly but not only with regard to the protection of the EU’s financial interests by criminal law. The adoption of the Directive on the fight against fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law, the so-called ''PIF Directive,'' is a key achievement in putting an end to the largely outdated 22-year-old "PIF Convention." With its comprehensive catalogue of criminal offences, including fraud, corruption, money laundering, and misappropriation affecting the EU budget as... Read more

Dear Reader, As a practising lawyer specialised in the field of criminal law and criminal procedure who is also involved in international cases − and as an enthusiastic European − I feel that we need a new and strong commitment to “our” Europe in these anxious times. We need to strengthen the EU as a guarantor for peace, our common values, human and fundamental rights, and the rule of law in our common area of freedom, security and justice. Since the Amsterdam Treaty and the Tampere Council in 1999, the legal principle of mutual recognition of judicial decisions has been... Read more

Dear Readers, A strong European Union budget, particularly its sound and correct implementation, is a key element in building trust among European citizens. The resources at the disposal of the EU need to be properly managed and well spent in order to make a real difference in people’s lives. Ensuring that these resources are not the object of fraud or corruption is therefore an essential objective. The adoption by the Council of the Regulation establishing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) on 12 October 2017 marks a decisive step in this direction. The EPPO will be established by way of... Read more

Dear Readers, Money laundering and other forms of illicit financial crime damage the integrity and stability of the social and economic system. Moreover, this phenomenon represents a scourge afflicting the trust of citizens in the market, both nationally and on the single market level. Especially since the nineties of the last century, when money launderers began to take advantage of the freedom of capital movements, money laundering and terrorism financing became significant problems. These forms of crime are therefore permanently on the political agenda in the EU and internationally, and remain a permanent challenge for national regulators, the European Union,... Read more

Dear Readers, Cooperation on the part of national courts and executive authorities in the criminal law field is constitutive for the functioning of the area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ). Focusing on a more or less voluntary cooperation on the part of the national authorities might initially have been an indication of the Member States’ reluctance to also give up sovereignty in the field of criminal law and criminal justice. Today, however, it is clear that the AFSJ cannot be realized without such cooperation. It is therefore of programmatic significance when “cooperation” is expressly referred to in the relevant… Read more

Dear Readers, The notion of the "cost of non-Europe" was introduced by Michel Albert and James Ball in a 1983 report that had been commissioned by the European Parliament. The notion was also a central element of the report by Paolo Cecchini who contributed to shaping the progressive establishment of a European single market by the end of December 1992. The method consists of estimating common economic costs in the absence of measures at the European level within a particular domain. It highlights the gain of efficiency that derives from the concrete and effective implementation of a policy as defined… Read more