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

“The Commission’s efforts and initiatives in this area have been aimed at making checks
at internal frontiers more flexible, as they cannot be abolished altogether until, in line
with the concerns expressed by the European Council, adequate safeguards are
introduced against terrorism and drugs.” 152
Along the same lines, the Schengen Agreement also held that the signatory parties
should,
“…reinforce cooperation between their customs and police authorities, notably in
fighting crime, particularly illicit traffic in drugs and arms, the unauthorised entry and
residence of persons and customs and tax fraud and smuggling. To that end and in
accordance with their national laws, the Parties shall endeavour to improve the
exchange of information and to reinforce it where information likely to be of interest to
the other parties in combating crime is concerned.” 153
The release of these two documents essentially changed the criminal law related matters
discourse in the European Union space.
Furthermore, Mitsilegas et al note how, during the 1970s and 1980s, besides the single
market shift, there were increased pressures upon Member States, namely due to an
expansion in
“…drug trafficking, the growth of international trade and financial transactions, and
the increasing economic interpenetration in Western Europe led to a spread of crossborder
activities of organised crime groups almost everywhere in Europe.” 154
Official data available from this time is scarce but Recommendation 1044 of the Council
of Europe, for example, broadly refers to an,
“…alarming increase in international crime, that is, predominantly organised crime
with international ramifications, in member countries of the Council of Europe and the
world as a whole”. 155
152
European Commission, Completing the Internal Market, supra note 58, para 51.
153 Schengen Agreement, supra note 59, Article 9.
154 V. Mitsilegas, J. Monar and W. Rees, The European Union and Internal Security: Guardians
of the Treaties (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) 24-25.
155 Council of Europe, Recommendation 1044 (1986) on international crime, Assembly debate on
20 September 1986 (14th Sitting) para 1.
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