№74 The End of the Transitional Period for Police and Criminal Justice Measures Adopted before the Lisbon Treaty: Who monitors trust in the European Criminal Justice area?
№74 The End of the Transitional Period for Police and Criminal Justice Measures Adopted before the Lisbon Treaty: Who monitors trust in the European Criminal Justice area?

Author(s): Katharina Eisele, Sergio Carrera, Valsamis Mitsilegas
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Criminal Law, International relations/trade, Security and defense, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment, EU-Legislation
Published by: CEPS Centre for European Policy Studies
Keywords: European Criminal Justice area; Transitional Period for Police and Criminal Justice; Lisbon Treaty;
Summary/Abstract: This study examines the legal and political implications of the recent end of the transitional period for the measures in the fields of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, as set out in Protocol 36 to the EU Treaties. This Protocol limits some of the most far-reaching innovations introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon over EU cooperation on Justice and Home Affairs for a period of five years after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon (until 1 December 2014), and provides the UK with special ‘opt out/opt-in’ possibilities. The study focuses on the meaning of the transitional period for the wider European Criminal Justice area. The most far-reaching change emerging from the end of this transition will be the expansion of the powers if scrutiny by the European Commission and Luxembourg Court of Justice over Member States’ implementation of EU criminal justice law. The possibility offered by Protocol 36 for the UK to opt out and opt back in to pre-Lisbon Treaty instruments poses serious challenges to a common EU area of justice by further institutionalising ‘over-flexible’ participation incriminal justice instruments.

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