New Treaty, New Journal
| DOI | 10.1177/203228441000100101 |
| Published date | 01 March 2010 |
| Author | Scott Crosby |
| Date | 01 March 2010 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
New Journal of Eur opean Crimina l Law, Vol. 1, Issue 1, 2010 3
EDITORIAL
neW tReAtY, neW JoURnAL
S C*
e primary law of the EU is now containe d in the consolidated version of the Treaty
on European Union (TEU) and in the consolidated version of the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). e TF EU has criminal law provisions
empowering the Union
i) to “establish minimum r ules concerning the denition of criminal oences and
sanctions in a reas of particularly serious crime w ith a cross-border dimension
(…)” and to extend the scope of such minimum rules if warranted by “developments
in crime” [Article 83 (1)];
ii) to establish by direct ive minimum rules on the denition of criminal oences and
sanctions in order “ to ensure the eectiveness of a Union polic y in an area which
has been subject to harmonis ation measures” [Article 83 (2)];
iii) to “establish a European Public Prosecutor’s Oce from Eurojust” in order to
combat crimes “aecti ng the nancial interests if the Union” [Article 86 (1)], and
iv) to “extend the powers of the European Public Prosecutor’s Oce to include serious
crime having a cross-b order dimension” [Article 86(4)].
e entry into force of the TFEU has not altered a single word of existing EU criminal
law. Nor does anythi ng in the foregoing necessarily mean that the Union will actu ally
use t hese powers or will nd it easy to do so. Indeed the exercise of some of t hese
powers may create constitutional diculties for some Member States1, even if this has
not stopped any Member State from ratifying them into existence. Much therefore
remains to be done, so much so that Klip’s view that “European cri minal law is (…)
about t he development of a c riminal justice system for the European Union”2 sti ll
holds true.
All t he same, the entry into force of the TFEU has placed the Union’s powers in
this eld on a more coherent footing even if it has not obtained t he power to adopt
* Senior Part ner at Crosby Houben & Aps, Brusse ls.
1 See the Judgment of 30 June 2009 of t he German Constitut ional Court (Bundes verfassungsgeri cht)
on the compatibil ity of the Lisbon Treaty wit h the Basic Law, §§363 to 366 and 419.
2 Klip, European Criminal Law – An Integrative Approach, 20 09 Intersentia, Antwerp, p. 1, italics not
in the origi nal.
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