Towards a European Reassessment of Punitive Law Enforcement?

Abstract

To what extent have the EU and the Member States developed policies in the field of punitive law enforcement, and is the lack thereof, in part, a problem for the objectives of European integration, to which both the Union and the Member States have subscribed? Despite this Europeanisation of many policy areas, Member States continue to operate largely based on national enforcement systems for punitive law enforcement, linked to national territoriality. Moreover, essential aspects of that enforcement, both in terms of instruments and safeguards, have not been harmonized. The author opts for a functional policy approach, in which the EU and the Member States define which priority policy areas require an EU approach to punitive law enforcement, based on a chain approach from administrative to criminal enforcement and thus integrating the dual enforcement regime.