Investigating European Fraud in the EU Member States

This book offers a detailed overview of the rules regarding criminal investigations into financial-economic criminality in the EU's main legal systems. These rules have become fundamental to the effective protection of the Union's financial interests. It undertakes a comparative study of six national legislatures (Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, the UK) which serve as paradigms of the different judicial systems existing in the Union, in order to offer a complete overview of the different approaches to financial-economic investigation in the EU.

The work is further enriched with cross–sectional essays that deal with the more general issues, such as data-protection and the future of investigations in the view of the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (or EPPO). This provides a wider perspective on the themes considered.

The book also examines trans-national issues, providing essential context to the EU's legislative instruments intended to protect the financial interests of the Union.

Introduction

PART I: The Fight against Financial-Economic Crime through Specialised Investigative Bodies
. 1. Dynamics and Operational Models of Financial-Economic Investigations in Italy
. 2. Investigating Economic Crimes in Spain: An Attempt to Find Order in Chaos

PART II: Establishing Specifi c Competences in Prosecuting Financial-Economic Crime
. 3. Criminal Investigations in Financial-Economic Matters in France

PART III: The Role of Administrative Authorities in Investigating Financial-Economic Crimes
. 4. The Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Financial Crimes-Role and Function of Administrative
Authorities in Germany
. 5. The Role of Fiscal Administrative Authorities in Poland

PART IV: Prosecuting Financial-Economic Offences Outside the Roman Legal System
. 6. The Dynamics of Investigating and Prosecuting Financial and Economic Crimes in the UK

PART V: Final Cross-sectional Essays
. 7. Data Protection Issues in Transnational Financial-Economic Investigations
. 8. Best Practices and Operational Models in Financial-Economic Investigations in Europe in View of the EPPO

Alessandro Bernardi is Professor of Law at the University of Ferrara.

Daniele Negri is Profession of Law at the University of Ferrara.