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Prosecuting EU Financial Crimes: The European Public Prosecutor's Office in Comparison to the US Federal Regime

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Carlos Gómez-Jara Díez  and
Ester Herlin-Karnell
Carlos Gómez-Jara Díez
Affiliation:
Criminal Law at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and practicing lawyer at Corporate Defense, Madrid. Email: cgj@corporatedefense.es
Ester Herlin-Karnell
Affiliation:
EU Constitutional Law and Justice and University Research Chair, VU University of Amsterdam. Email: e.herlinkarnell@vu.nl

Abstract

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Why is the fight against financial crimes such a central task for the EU? The EU has a strong interest to counter financial crimes and fraud against the EU budget as those crimes—so the EU legislator's claim is—hamper the trust in the market and undermine consumer confidence to engage in internal market transactions. In this Article, we aim to discuss the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor Office as a federal agent and the effects of this agent for establishing a robust EU financial crimes regime. Comparisons with the US system of US Attorneys—federal prosecutors—will be drawn to show that this institution has been quite effective at enhancing the protection of US financial market. The Article will then discuss to what extent the EU can, and should, learn from the American experience. We are particularly interested in the strong security focus in the EU and its consequences when it ventures into the area of financial crimes.

Type
Articles
Information
German Law Journal , Volume 19 , Issue 5 , October 2018 , pp. 1191 - 1220
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by German Law Journal GbR 

References

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51 A European Prosecutor from each Member State should be appointed to the College. They should act as liaison between the central office and the decentralized level in their Member States, facilitating the functioning of the EPPO as a single office. The supervising European Prosecutor should also check any instruction's compliance with national law and inform the Permanent Chamber if the instructions do not do so. See id. Google Scholar

52 The investigations of the EPPO should—as a rule—be carried out by European Delegated Prosecutors in the Member States. They should do so in accordance with this Regulation and, as regards matters not covered by this Regulation, in accordance with national law. European Delegated Prosecutors should carry out their tasks under the supervision of the supervising European Prosecutor and under the direction and instruction of the competent Permanent Chamber.Google Scholar

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99 See Henning, Peter J., Federalism and the Federal Prosecution of State and Local Corruption, 92 Kent. L.J. 1 (2003) (“[s]ince the 1970s, federal prosecutors have been particularly active in prosecuting state and local officials for corruption”). The interesting issue is that, with time, federal prosecutors have prosecuted state and local officials even if no federal funds were involved; see Peter J. Henning, Federalism and the Federal Prosecution of State and Local Corruption, 92 KENT. L.J. 1, 2 (2003) (“[d]o federal prosecutors invade an area traditionally reserved to the states by applying federal statutes to local corruption that does not implicate the exercise of any direct federal power or the misuse of federal funds?”). A similar trend could take place in the EU given the widespread consensus against corruption and the perceived inaction by national prosecutors in some instances.Google Scholar

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