The Problems of Criminal Law Harmonization in the Framework of the EU

Abstract

The free movement of people across internal borders, and the high level of integration between EU member states, demands the development of cooperation in the fight against crime. That is why the EU is empowered to ensure the coordination of activities of member states in the fight against crime. This fight is one of the elements of EU policy in the areas of freedom, security and justice. One of the EU’s anti-crime activities is the harmonization of national criminal law, the main idea of which is to ensure the same level of responsibility for crimes of a cross-border dimension in all EU member states. The article analyzes the legal basis for the harmonization of criminal law within the EU, classifies these activities, shows the features of certain types (modes) of harmonization, as well as shows the place of criminal law harmonization in the EU system of combating crime. The analysis of the definition «EU criminal law» and other concepts relating to legal cooperation in criminal matters within the EU has a special place in this article. Based on an analysis of the positions of a number of researchers, the author comes to the conclusion that the concept of «EU criminal law» is an «umbrella» definition, which is understood as a set of rules relating to the harmonization of criminal law and criminal procedure law. In addition, the paper shows the features of harmonization of criminal law within the most serious types of crimes, such as terrorism, human trafficking, etc. The EU has a competence on the harmonization of national criminal law, but EU institutions are entitled to accept only framework norms that do not have a direct effect needing implementation into national law. At the moment, the EU’s primary Law contains the necessary legal framework for the harmonization of national criminal law. The analysis of this framework allows us to identify three main modes of harmonization of criminal law within the EU: functional (basic) harmonization, annex harmonization, and auxiliary harmonization.