This book takes stock of the development of EU criminal law from the establishment of the ECSC to the first European Union criminal law directives passed after the Lisbon Treaty. The work considers criminal offences established at EU level, the effects of EU law on national criminalization, the emerging body of EU criminal procedural law, and the increasing recognition of defense rights as EU rights.  Limits to the legal effects of EU-level rules require them to be examined in the light of Member State practice. Implementing measures are not always appropriate, and may balance interests under national law, the rights of criminal defendants, and the need for EU-wide approximation. The proliferation of EU criminal law has led to an explicit, albeit underdeveloped, EU criminal policy
This book will be of particular interest to students and scholars of EU Law and Criminal Law.