Définition des délits économiques internationaux ; règles de fond et poursuites

International criminal law is in rapid development as States seek to catch up with criminal practices that are facilitated by economic globalisation, in particular by the diversity and territorial limitations of national market regulation and criminal laws and by the opportunities offered by modern forms of electronic transactions. Coordinated interna~tional efforts of fighting transnational business delinquency concern, first, the harmoni~sation of the definition of economic crimes. Such harmonisation is more advanced on the regional level, in particular on the level of the EU, than on the international level, where it essentially covers only money laundring and corrupt practices. Similarly, as regards cooperation in enforcement matters, international cooperation, though existing in some limited areas such as traffic of drugs, is still in its beginnings, however promising. By contrast, on the regional level, the European Union has made considerable progress as regards judicial assistance, mutual recognition and even joint enforcement by relying, on the one hand, on the conclusion of conventions between Member States and, on the other, by implementing the opportunities of cooperation offered by the « third pillar » of the EU-Treaty. More generally speaking, the development of international criminal law is characterized by both increased reliance on binding agreements rather than on the soft law of recommendations made by international organisations, and by better monitoring of the use and effectiveness of international instruments.