The evolution of European Union criminal law (1957-2012)

The preamble then moves on to contextualise the adoption of the Framework Decision
within the framework of the Vienna Action Plan, of the Tampere Conclusion of 1999
and of the UN Convention of 12 December 2000 against Transnational Organised
Crime. 445
All these measures are clearly contextualised under the umbrella framework of the fight
against organised criminality which stands out as the main goal and underlying rationale
of the EU’s intervention in criminal matters. The expansive approach taken to the idea
of organised crime is also seen also in the link made to financial criminality. Many of
these measures adopted in the context of organised crime were concerned with financial
criminality. Hence, boundaries between financial, business crime and organised crime
remained fluid. This thematic intertwine reflects the fact that, as seen in earlier in this
dissertation, the concept of organised crime, as observed by the EU, has developed in a
particularly wide ranging, broad and fluid manner. Consequently, goals of the single
market are also pursued via the fight against organised crime. Although the EC had no
competence under the first pillar to adopt criminal law measures to protect its interests
and policies, this protection was sought under the third pillar. Hence, third pillar
measures were adopted with the aim of directly protecting EC interests or policies or
with the aim of complementing existing first pillar instruments. Examples are the
protection of immigration and labour markets with the Framework Decision on
trafficking of human beings, or the protection of the financial system, through the
Framework Decisions on money laundering, fraud, etc. In fact, measures to fight human
trafficking or money laundering in the context of the third pillar, for example, were
adopted mainly to complement and render efficacy to a vast bulk of legislation on the
topic already existent in the realm of the first pillar. Money laundering, for example, was
the object of several measures adopted in the realm of the first pillar in the nineties,
directed at the single market. EU legislation has been adopted since 1991 to protect the
financial system and financial activities from being misused for money laundering. 446
445 See intents (2), (4) and (6), ibid..
446 The first measure adopted in the context of the fight against money laundering was the 1991
Directive on the prevention of use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering,
supra note 164. The Directive was adopted in the context of the freedom of establishment and
single market provisions, based on a threat posed to the financial system, although its scope went
well beyond a strictly financial rationale and established a comprehensive framework of
repression and prevention of money laundering. The Commission then replaced the Directive of
1991 by a Directive in 2001 and by another in 2005 on the prevention of the use of the financial
system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing, OJ L 309/15 [2005]. The
Directive now covers the laundering of drug trafficking, organised crime and fraud as defined in
the EU instruments, corruption in general, and of offences that generate considerable proceeds
and which are punishable by severe sentences of imprisonment, in accordance with the law of the
Member State.
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