What Principles Drive (or Should Drive) European Criminal Law?

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1115-1130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ester Herlin-Karnell
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
New Era ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Future ◽  
European Criminal Law ◽  
The Eu

The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty has changed the framework and possibilities of the development of European Union (EU) criminal law. Gone is the long-lived and awkward cross-pillar character of EU criminal law, as mainly a third pillar EU ‘intergovernmental’ issue but also partly a first (EC) pillar question. The Lisbon Treaty marks a new era for the criminal law as it brings it within the core of the EU law project. Nevertheless, Article 10 of the transitional protocol as attached to the Lisbon Treaty stipulates a five-year transition period before former third pillar instruments will be treated in the same way as EU acts. This paper will focus on two issues in particular. The first question that will be addressed concerns what EU law principles drive or decide the EU's involvement in criminal law. After having identified these principles the second question is whether they should drive it and if so what implications will it have for the criminal law in the future.

scholarly journals A legitimacy-based approach to EU criminal law: Maybe we are getting there, after all

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-39
Author(s):  
Kimmo Nuotio
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Criminal Policy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Member States ◽  
Strong Emphasis ◽  
European Criminal Law ◽  
The Eu

European Union (EU) law is known for its strong emphasis on effectivity and more generally for its instrumental character. This is not foreign even to European criminal law, a feature which creates some tension between the EU criminal law and criminal law in the national setting. EU Framework Decisions and Directives often require the Member States to criminalize certain forms of conduct with sanctions that are ‘Effective, Dissuasive and Proportionate’. In this article, I try to show that it would be timely to look at EU criminal law from an alternative point of view, as a more mature law. I call this a legitimacy-based approach. Such a reading would ease some of these tensions. It would also be helpful in developing a criminal policy for the EU, a policy which would be realistic and pragmatic. And it would be easier to look at EU criminal law from the point of view of justice. In order to get there, we need to see where the (current) narrow deterrence argument gets is wrong or one-sided. Some social theory is needed in order to make the point.

scholarly journals "Core-Periphery" in the European Union – An Economic Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-154
Author(s):  
Ines Kersan-Škabić
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Economic Indicators ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Perspective ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Eu

The heterogeneity of economic performances in the EU member states is one of the main reasons for the existence of a “core-periphery” relationship. The goal of this research is to examine various economic indicators to reveal possible divisions between the EU members. This issue emphasized the contribution of rich “core” countries to the imbalances in poorer “peripheral” EU members. By applying cluster methodology and considering the most recent data, two groups of countries were identified, the first comprising 11 countries that form the “centre” or the “core”, and the rest of the EU forming the “periphery”. Considering differences between these countries is necessary and justified for discussions about the future development of the EU that will involve differences between member states.

scholarly journals Rethinking Europe: the Lithuanian Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-119
Author(s):  
Violeta Motulaitė
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
European Union ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Public Health Crisis ◽  
European Unity ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Eu

The initiative of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CFE) stems out of the necessity to re-evaluate the European Union project after the Brexit, the wave of populism and nationalism and the changing geopolitical environment in the world, as well as to reflect upon the European unity ten years after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. As mentioned in this Franco – German initiative, it was meant to address all issues at stake and guide the future of Europe with a view to turning the EU more united and sovereign. It should have focused on policies and it should have identified the main reforms to be implemented as a matter of priority in each block of policies, setting out the types of changes to be made. The current public health crisis has redefined the problems and priorities of the EU. Some issues have become less topical, some have remained relevant and some have emerged as high priorities only now.

Sovereignty in Europe

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter Grimm
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Jürgen Habermas ◽  
Member States ◽  
Jurgen Habermas ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the question of who is sovereign in the relationship between the European Union and its Member States. It first considers the relevance of the debate over sovereignty in the EU and the development of the concept of sovereignty, paying attention to public powers form the substance of sovereignty, Jürgen Habermas’ theory of dual sovereignty, and the relevant provisions of the Lisbon Treaty. It then explores the problem of whether one should maintain the concept of sovereignty or recognize that the era of post-sovereignty has begun. It argues that it makes sense to address the question of who is sovereign in the EU, suggesting that the answer will determine the future course of European integration. It also analyses which concept of sovereignty is best suited to understand and explain the EU.

Europäisches Strafrecht nach dem Vertrag von Lissabon: Macht die Reform den Weg frei?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grazyna Marina Plump
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Vertrag Von Lissabon ◽  
Criminal Matters ◽  
European Criminal Law ◽  
The Eu

This study deals with a topic that has been matter of debate among the academic community for some time: The competences of the EU in Criminal Law. With the current EU law after Lisbon the basic academic criticism of European Criminal Law, especially the prominent objection of a democratic deficit, is being scrutinized. Thereafter the analysis deals with the EU’s legislative powers in criminal matters. The competences with regard to the harmonization of Criminal Law are examined as well as the EU’s legislative power to define offences via regulations. The work relates the analysis of the current legal basis of European Criminal Law to the fundamental criticism that is voiced especially from the point of view of democratic theory.

THE EUROPEAN UNION INVESTMENT POLICY

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nemanja Pandurević
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
Investment Policy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The Lisbon Treaty empowered competence of the EU in the area of FDI. One of the main reasons to have single investment policy by the EU is that the EU has the better negotiation position for the future agreements in the field of FDI. The paper analyzes the impact of the FDI to the EU economy, reasons for introducing the new EU investment policy, scope of the new EU investment competence.

Prosecution ex officio or following a complaint by the victim? An analysis on offences related to violence against women and sexual offences

2021 ◽  
pp. 203228442110082
Author(s):  
Tomohiro Nakane
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Sexual Offences ◽  
European Criminal Law

In recent years, there has been a tendency in cases of violence against women and sexual offences to prosecute them, regardless of whether the victim files their complaint. This article investigates the recent changes in European criminal law in this respect. The results indicate a variety of approaches under European Union (EU) law, Council of Europe (CoE) law and domestic approaches. Furthermore, existing EU and CoE law has not suggested an ‘in-between’ approach, which exists in some national legal systems such as that of Germany. On that basis, this article suggests a number of amendments to current EU and CoE law.

scholarly journals The Relationship between EU Law and Fundamental Principles of Estonian Substantive Criminal Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 174-182
Author(s):  
Kaie Rosin
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Charter Of Fundamental Rights ◽  
Principle Of Legality ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

Although the EU lacks explicit competence to harmonise national principles of criminal law, there are many ways in which EU law and national criminal law are interconnected on a level deeper than mere minimum standards adopted from directives. The article analyses these intersections between EU law and fundamental principles of Estonian substantive criminal law, explaining how the principles of criminal law recognised and interpreted in the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU and covered by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union exhibit the capacity to affect fundamental principles of Estonian substantive criminal law. The article focuses on five principles specific to substantive criminal law, which are derived from the fundamental principles of the Estonian Constitution and have equivalents in human-rights law: the principle of legality of criminal law, the principle of retroactive application of the more lenient criminal law, proportionality, ultima ratio, and the principle of individual guilt. The analysis demonstrates that the relationship between EU law and the various principles of substantive criminal law is not uniform because the principles of substantive criminal law are not developed evenly at European Union level.

scholarly journals Fundamental rights and punishment: Is there an EU perspective?

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-27
Author(s):  
Anabela Miranda Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Criminal Sanctions ◽  
Principle Of Proportionality ◽  
Criminal Matters ◽  
European Criminal Law ◽  
The Eu

Taking fundamental rights into account means a limitation of repression, as an instance of the principle of proportionality or principle of necessity, of criminal intervention. The need to design European Union (EU) criminal law in compliance with the principle of proportionality is especially clear in the post-Lisbon stage, in view of the strengthening and expansion of the EU’s competence to legislate on criminal matters, enshrined in Article 83 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. This article aims at analysing the terms in which European criminal law respects the aforementioned principle of proportionality of punishment and translates an EU perspective in the field of criminal sanctions.

scholarly journals Brexit and the reform of social security coordination: The UK’s metamorphosis from rule maker to rule taker

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Roberts
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Security ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Freedom Of Movement ◽  
The Future ◽  
Legislative Proposal ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

This article examines the United Kingdom’s negotiating position on the revision of the EU Coordinating Regulations proposed by the European Commission in December 2016, in the context of Brexit and the negotiations on the Withdrawal Agreement. The Withdrawal Agreement contains provisions on the future coordination of social security for UK and EU nationals who have exercised their freedom of movement rights before the end of the transition period. The coordination envisaged by the Withdrawal Agreement has not been sealed at the point of the UK’s departure but will continue to evolve and incorporate future changes in the EU Coordinating Regulations, including the reforms contained in the Commission’s current legislative proposal. The UK had a seat at the negotiating table until it left the European Union on 31 January 2020, which it used to try to influence the reform of the Coordinating Regulations to reflect its future interests. The article finds that, while the UK participated in negotiating the current revision of the Coordinating Regulations and several of the revisions are in line with its aims, its influence is waning as the UK moves from being a rule maker to a rule taker in Europe.

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