Articles 82-86 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Environmental Crime. Study in the framework of the EFFACE research project, Catania, University of Catania

The report provides an analysis of Articles 82-86 TFEU, which especially deal with the “Judicial cooperation in criminal matters”, set out in the framework of Title V of the TFEU. While Articles 82 and 83 TFEU deal with approximation of laws and regulations of the Member States (and in particular of national provisions of criminal law and criminal procedure), Articles 85 and 86 TFEU cover what can be called the institutional dimension of such a cooperation. Article 82 TFEU brings mutual recognition in general terms within the scope of the EU’s competence, and gives in particular the European Parliament and the Council general regulatory powers on this matter. Article 83 TFEU is the fundamental provision as far as the harmonisation of substantive criminal law is concerned; this article lists the areas in which the approximation of laws can be realised and it distinguishes between the cases of “particularly serious crime with a cross-border dimension” and the ones in which the approximation proves essential “to ensure the effective implementation of a Union policy in an area which has been subject to harmonisation measures”. Then Article 84, 85 and 86 TFEU are also taken into consideration