Views With Respect To The Eu Legislative Competence For Criminal Law, Attributed To The Lisbon Treaty

The Lisbon Treaty assigns EU legislative competence in criminal matters (shared, according to article 2 A TFEU). This news published in legislative union generates a different perspective on European criminal law, previously designed as a right that is born from the cooperation of Member States and is considered the expression of each people's culture, which incorporates the characteristics of its way of life and development. EU legislative competence in criminal matters, as shown in art. 83 (2) TFEU gives the power to define crimes and establish penalties at least in the particular area of serious crimes with a cross-border dimension, and in those cases where the approximation of laws and regulations criminal Member States proves to be essential to ensure the effective implementation of a Union policy in an area which has been subject to harmonization measures. If the allocation of legislative competence in criminal matters in favor of the European Union amount to "reconfigure the concept of sovereignty" as is claimed in theory, fears of goals legislating criminal (by covering areas) and lack of perspective real to be implemented effectively and in an effective way through the European institutions, it is understandable given that institutional structures are not operational at the moment. Seeking an answer to this problem should not circumvent that law-making process at European level in criminal matters as conceived by the Treaty implies both European institutions: the Commission, the Council and specialized agencies on matters AFSJ (Article 68 and 70), as and national parliaments (Article 12). Moreover, at least declaratively, recognizes the inviolability of sovereign prerogative of Member States to develop and apply the criminal law. In its Resolution of 22 May 2012 the European Parliament on the EU approach on criminal law (act drawn up after the entry into force of the Treaty) states that "whereas criminal law systems and criminal procedure Member States have developed the over the centuries and each Member State has its own characteristics and peculiarities (and therefore) the core areas of criminal law must remain the responsibility of Member States ".