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

means to repatriate third country nationals illegally residing in the Community, for
measures to avoid abuse of political asylum and a further intensification of cooperation
in the fight against terrorism, illegal immigration and drug trafficking. The document
also referred briefly to cooperation in the domains of fire, firearms and hooliganism.
This Declaration of the Trevi Ministers makes official the shift from the subject matter
of terrorism alone, which continued to be central, to other domains such as drug
trafficking and illegal immigration.
From 1987 onwards these issues began to be addressed together in many declarations,
actions plans and other official documents. This was clear, for instance, from the Palma
document which defined the type of measures that should be decided by a group or
groups and which called for measures on the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and
other illicit trafficking, improved cooperation of law enforcement bodies, judicial
cooperation in criminal matters and the control of articles accompanying travellers.
Regarding the external frontiers of the EC, it called for administrative and technical
instruments for the treatment of non-Community citizens, namely a visa policy, a list of
persons to be refused entry and the determination of competencies to decide on asylum
applications. 204 Along the same lines, the Schengen Convention brought in the
possibility for cooperation in police and security matters in relation to offences such as
murder, rape, counterfeiting, armed robbery, extortion, traffic in human beings, illicit
traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, illicit explosives and illicit
carriage of toxic and dangerous waste among others. 205 The umbrella of interest amongst
EC related groups was gathering more and more areas of criminality in a crescendo of
topics and initiatives that would finally be officially absorbed by the European Union in
1993 with the entering into force of the TEU(M).
2.2. A broader scope: beyond core EC policies
At the EC level, there was an expanding rationale for intervention in criminal matters.
As seen in the first part of this chapter, the protection and enforcement of Community
policies could influence domestic criminal laws. This influence was taking place on two
different levels: through the choice of implementation of Community measures via
national criminal law; and via the Court’s judicial intervention, setting limits to the
scope of national criminal offences and penalties.
204 Trevi Ministers, “Programme of Action relating to the reinforcement of police co-opration and
of the endeavours to combat terrorismo or other forms of organised crime”, June 1990, para 2.1,
in T. Bunyan, Key Texts in Justice and Home Affairs, supra note 141.
205 See for examples Articles 40 (7) and 41 (4) (a) of the Convention applying the Schengen
Agreement of 14 June 1985, supra note 59.
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