The Legal Basis for EU Criminal Law Harmonisation: A Question of Federalism?

2018 (43) (3) European Law Review, 366-393

Posted: 11 Jul 2018

See all articles by Jacob Öberg

Jacob Öberg

Lund University- Faculty of Law; Department of Law

Date Written: June 20, 2018

Abstract

Article 83(2) TFEU, introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon, confers a power on the EU to harmonise Member States’ legislation to define criminal offences and criminal sanctions. Nonetheless, uncertainty persists as to whether this provision exhaustively determines the EU’s power to adopt criminal law to enforce its policies. The article outlines the core case for viewing art.83(2) TFEU as a lex specialis. It argues that the post-Lisbon constitutional design, alongside principled and teleological considerations, support a Member State centred approach for criminal law competence. This is particularly the case with regard to the adoption of harmonisation measures.

Keywords: Competence; Criminal Law; Criminal Procedure; EU Law; Fraud; Legal Basis; Lex Specialis Derogat Generali

Suggested Citation

Öberg, Jacob Olav Göran, The Legal Basis for EU Criminal Law Harmonisation: A Question of Federalism? (June 20, 2018). 2018 (43) (3) European Law Review, 366-393, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3199699

Jacob Olav Göran Öberg (Contact Author)

Lund University- Faculty of Law ( email )

Lilla Gråbrödersgatan 4
Lund, 222 22
Sweden
+46735336571 (Phone)

Department of Law ( email )

Odense, DK-5000
Denmark

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
548
PlumX Metrics