Abstract
ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the current tendency in the EU to promote a criminal justice model focusing on prevention. In doing so, I examine the EU's internal security agenda with regard to criminal law and assess the extent to which this strategy fits the picture of an European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice placing equal value on freedom, security and justice. I also consider the external dimension to the EU's security program by examining the extent to which the EU benefits from the dual layer of security action provided for in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Treaty of the European Union, or whether such double action creates unnecessary complexity. I contrast the current aspirations for more security and prevention in EU criminal law with the Commission's recent communication on the effective implementation of EU policies through criminal law. This communication stresses the importance of ensuring coherence in EU criminal law, while also respecting national diversity and serving the citizens. In addition, I discuss the extent to which the EU's promotion of preventive criminal justice risks turning the EU into a disintegrator instead of an agent of European values (depending on what these values are intended to mean in practice).
Highlights
This paper takes as its starting point the claim that there is currently too much security on the agenda in the European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) and too little justice-oriented thinking at the EU level
I examine the EU’s internal security agenda with regard to criminal law and assess the extent to which this strategy fits the picture of an European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice placing equal value on freedom, security and justice
While it could be argued that Europe’s raison d’être should turn on its ability to uphold certain values, most prominently the rule of law and respect for human rights in line with the EU’s approach to the outside world, its current security agenda appears to be in sharp contrast with this
Summary
This paper takes as its starting point the claim that there is currently too much security on the agenda in the European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) and too little justice-oriented thinking at the EU level. The EU’s presence on the security stage has for a long time been turbulent, as evidenced by the well-documented events of 9/11 and the EU’s ongoing fight against terrorism It has been turbulent because of the thin legal basis that has often been employed as legislative justification for EU action, and and because of the apparent one-sided focus on preventive measures to increase the internal security of the EU. I examine the EU’s internal security agenda with regard to criminal law and discuss the extent to which this strategy fits the picture of an AFSJ placing equal value on freedom, security and justice. I discuss the extent to which the EU’s promoting of preventive criminal justice risks turning the EU into a disintegrator instead of an agent of European values (depending on what these values are intended to mean in practice)
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