Abstract

Since its creation, the EU has progressively gained growing competence to harmonise substantive criminal law. This occurred through Treaty amendments, but also through case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Treaty of Lisbon has codified all these previous developments, entrusting at present the EU with a quite wide competence to impose harmonised definition of offences and sanctions to Member States. As a consequence, next to this competence expansion, a debate has recently developed as to what would be a suitable EU criminal policy, i.e., on which principles or criteria should guide the exercise of these wide powers. Both the institutions and academics in scholarly writings have expressed themselves on the point, some pleading in favour of a more European-centred model, some arguing that some specific general principles of criminal law should be included. In the presentation, Irene will firstly touch upon the origins and the need for such a debate on a criminal policy for the EU, and secondly upon its terms. She will finally provide some critical reflection on its most audacious proposal, i.e., to also include general principles of criminal law as binding at the EU level.