Book Review: Investigating European Fraud in the EU Member States
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Author | Perrine Simon |
| DOI | 10.1177/2032284418776856 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Book Reviews
Investigating European Fraud in the EU Member States, A. Bernardi and D. Negri (eds.) (Oxford: Bloomsbury,
2017), ISBN 9781509903597, 200 pp., £55
Reviewed by: Perrine Simon, University of Paris 12, France; University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
DOI: 10.1177/2032284418776856
This book is the result of research led by Bernardi and Negri on the investigation of European fraud
in the European Union (EU) Member States, which was part of a research project co-financed by
the Commission and European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) under the Hercule III Programme on
‘Relationships between the national judicial authorities and the investigative agencies in view of
the EPPO: operational models and best practices in the fight against EU fraud’. This research is
conducted through a comparative study of the legislation of six Member States – Italy, Spain,
France, Germany and the United Kingdom – chosen for their ability to serve as paradigms of the
different judicial systems in Europe. Four of the five parts of the book are consequently dedicated
to an in-depth overview of the dynamics and rules in relation to the investigation of financial and
economic crime in these Member States.
In the first part, Italy and Spain are explored under ‘The fight against financial-economic crime
through specialised investigative bodies’. They have in common a criminal justice system char-
acterized by a strong functional dependence between police and public prosecutors and particular
importance given to the role of technically specialized bodies. It is shown that in practice the
Italian model (Chapter 1) strongly relies on strategically decisive agencies such as the Guardia di
Finanza (tax police). The analysis of the Spanish model (Chapter 2) reveals that the administrative
authorities are called upon to give mere support and that the public prosecutor, investigating judge
and judicial police play the leading role.
In the second part dealing with ‘Establishing specific competences in prosecuting financial
economic crime’, the case of France is examined. The French model (Chapter 3) is depicted as
quite unique in the sense that the legislator has established multiple administrative and judicial
authorities dividing among them the competences related to the activity of combating economic
crimes. It is, however, shown that this results in a complex bureaucracy that raises difficulties
regarding the distribution of proceedings.
The third part concerns ‘The role of administrative authorities in investigating financial eco-
nomic crimes’ where Germany and Poland are looked into. It is shown that, in these two countries,
administrative control authorities play a significant role in criminal investigations regarding finan-
cial and economic crimes and are bestowed with large investigative powers including in criminal
proceedings. In Germany (Chapter 4), the model is characterized by a dual approach – the ‘double
hat’ model – consisting of the cumulation of tasks and powers by the administrative authorities,
New Journal of European Criminal Law
2018, Vol. 9(2) 285–288
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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