Crime within the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice

The ‘Europeanisation’ of the fight against crime is a broad and much-contested notion. This in-depth analysis of the role of the EU in fighting crime within the area of freedom, security and justice explores the impact of EU policies in the Member States, the progressive convergence of Member States’ criminal law systems, the emergence of mutual recognition as an alternative to harmonization, and the incremental development of the ECJ’s jurisdiction. The essays also explore the limitations inherent in EU counter-crime policies and the changes brought about by the introduction of the Treaty of Lisbon. These changes are discussed both collectively and within individual substantive areas in which the EU has taken an active role in fighting crime, such as corruption, money laundering, terrorism, organised crime and extradition.

Author Biography

Christina Eckes is an Assistant Professor in European law at the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance (ACELG), University of Amsterdam. She joined ACELG as a postdoctoral researcher in September 2008. Prior to this, she wrote her PhD at King’s College London and worked as a lecturer at the University of Surrey, Guildford. Her research interests are the external relations of the European Union, the relationship between international and EU law, and EU constitutional law. She has widely published on EU external relations and EU counter-terrorist sanctions, including a monograph entitled EU Counter-Terrorist Policies and Fundamental Rights: The Case of Individual Sanctions (Oxford University Press, 2009). Theodore Konstadinides is a lecturer in European law at the School of Law, University of Surrey. His main area of interest is European constitutional law, in particular the delineation of competence between the EU and the Member States and the impact of European integration on national constitutional systems.