The third wave of third pillar law: which direction for EU criminal justice?

Abstract: After a period of relative stagnation, the past few months witnessed the adoption of a plethora of legislative instruments under the third pillar. These instruments can be seen as the third wave of third-pillar law, following the first wave of measures adopted post-Maastricht and the second wave of measures adopted post-Amsterdam and Tampere. The third wave of third-pillar law extends to most major areas of European integration in criminal law. New legislation involves the harmonisation of substantive criminal law (including the fields of terrorism, organised crime and racism and xenophobia), mutual recognition (with measures such as the
European Evidence Warrant and legislation on the recognition of probation decisions and the transfer of sentenced persons), the work of EU criminal justice bodies such as Europol and Eurojust, and the development of standards to regulate the proliferation of third pillar mechanisms to collect, analyse and exchange personal data. By analysing the background and content of these instruments, this article will assess their impact on the future development of EU criminal law and justice.