EU enforcement authorities are on the rise, entrusted with investigating breaches of EU law by individuals and economic actors. What are the implications for legal practice of their increasing prominence? This book explores this pertinent question from a constitutional and comparative perspective. It sets out the perimeters for composite enforcement and explores the relevant issues such as the interface between criminal and administrative law enforcement, the protection of fundamental rights and legal protection, as well as the admissibility of evidence, including unlawfully obtained evidence. Given the very real implications of the authorities' investigations, this book will appeal to practitioners and scholars, in fields from criminal law to competition and banking law.

EU law and governance have faced a new development – the proliferation of EU enforcement authorities, which have grown in number over the last 15 years. These entities, either acting alone or together with national enforcement authorities, have been investigating and sanctioning private actors on their compliance with EU law. Law Enforcement by EU Authorities investigates whether the system of control (in terms of both judicial and political accountability) has evolved to support the new system of law enforcement in the EU.

This study examines a key aspect of regulatory policy in the field of data protection, namely the frameworks governing the sharing of data for law enforcement purposes, both within the EU and between the EU and the US and other third party countries. The work features a thorough analysis of the main data-sharing instruments that have been used by law enforcement agencies and the intelligence services in the EU and in the US between 2001 to 2015. The study also explores the challenges to data protection which the current frameworks create, and explores the possible responses to those challenges at both EU and global levels. In offering a full overview of the current EU data-sharing instruments and their data protection rules, this book will be of significant benefit to scholars and policymakers working in areas related to privacy, data protection, national security and EU external relations.

The existence of a structured enforcement system is an inherent feature of national legal orders and one of the core elements of State sovereignty. The very limited power to issue sanctions has often been deemed a gap in the EC legal order. Over the years, the situation has progressively changed. The Union’s institutional setting is growing in complexity and a variety of agencies has been or is expected to be endowed with law enforcement responsibilities. In addition, the so-called competence creep has led the EU to play an increasingly prominent role in several areas of EU law enforcement, including the issuing of sanctions. This book examines these developments, focusing on both the general features of the EU legal order and the analysis of key-substantive areas, such as banking and monetary union, environmental law, and data protection. The work thus presents a general framework for understanding EU sanctioning based on structural features and general legal principles. Part I develops an analytical framework, tracking the most significant evolutive patterns of EU sanctioning powers. Part II adopts a more practical approach focusing on specific issues and policy areas. The book bridges a gap in existing literature and sheds new light on the relationship between the exercise of jus puniendi and the evolution of EU integration.

This comprehensive Research Handbook investigates the success of EU law enforcement processes. Going beyond traditional analyses of administrations and courts in isolation, it focuses on the increased cooperation seen between national and EU authorities, and on the widening variety of means used to enhance compliance with EU norms.

This study examines the challenges to European law posed by third-country access to data held by private companies for purposes of law-enforcement investigations in criminal proceedings. The proliferation of electronic communications is putting cloud-computing companies under severe strain from multiple demands from the authorities to acquire access to such data. A key challenge for the EU emerges when third-country authorities request access to data held by private companies under EU jurisdiction outside pre-established channels of cooperation, in particular outside Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) treaties. The EU concluded an MLA agreement with the United States in 2003, which sets the rules and procedures for lawful and legitimate access to evidence. A key distinguishing feature of the MLA-led process is that any request for access to data is "mediated" by or requires the consent of the state authority to whom the request is submitted as well as scrutiny by an independent judicial authority. Special focus is given to practical issues emerging in EU-US relations covering mutual legal assistance and evidence-gathering for law enforcement purposes in criminal proceedings. The fundamental question guiding this enquiry is how best to ensure that the rule of law and trust-based methods are respected in these proceedings. The authors carried out a detailed survey of the main EU legal instruments and their standards, underlining their direct relevance for assessing the lawfulness and legitimacy of access to data. They then outline three possible scenarios for the future and put forward a set of policy recommendations for addressing these challenges.

This book comprises the principal multilateral legal instruments on international and European criminal law, with a special institutional focus on Europol, Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, a substantive focus on international, organised and serious crime, including terrorism, and a focus on procedural rights approximation. Given the relevance thereof for international information exchange in criminal matters, relevant data protection instruments have also been included in the selection. The texts have been ordered according to the corresponding multilateral co-operation level: either Prüm, the European Union (comprising Schengen-related texts), the Council of Europe or the United Nations. This edition provides students as well as practitioners (judicial and law enforcement authorities, lawyers, researchers, …) throughout Europe with an accurate and up-to-date edition of essential texts on international and European criminal law. All texts have been updated until 8 December 2023.