EC Criminal Law: Prospects for the Corpus Juris

In 1996, with a proposal for a Corpus Juris to unify the criminal laws and procedures of the Member States with regards to offences affecting the EC budget, the fight against fraud and corruption affecting the EC budget took a truly ambitious turn. This proposal attempts to build upon attempts to protect EC funds by means of criminal law, through the application of assimilation, harmonisation and cooperation. The author discusses the chances of the Corpus Juris being adopted as a Community instrument in the light of the changes to the Treaty on European Union agreed at Amsterdam.