Europeanisation of criminal law : securing Europe's financial interests

Abstract

The fight against crime within the Member States and in the European institutions which target the European Union’s budget has been top priority of the Union for quite some time. In securing that the funds of the European Union do not end up in the hands of the wrong people and in ensuring that the Union’s citizens feel convinced that the tax being paid does not end up in the wrong pockets fuelled the Union to take action. The European Union believes that this problem can be overridden through the application of European criminal law because there can be the provision of sanctions which act as a deterrent. This is evidenced by the fact that with the introduction of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union has been given the competence to legislate and criminalise offences which are of a cross-border nature, serious and affect its financial interests. The competence given under the Lisbon Treaty will be discussed in detail, followed by a critical analysis of the European Union instruments enacted so far which deal with combating financial crime and securing Europe’s finances in an attempt to establish that there is the Europeanisation of criminal law which brings along substantial changes in the European institutions. In scrutinising the current tools provided by the Lisbon Treaty, it will be established the need for the European Union to secure prosecution of crimes affecting its financial interests through the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office which would be highly complemented by setting up a European Criminal Court. Ultimately this proves the creation of a European criminal policy and a European criminal justice system which is, however, far from being complete as more work needs to be undertaken at the fundaments of such project by enhancing harmonisation of crimes and sanctions.