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(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2022 7(3), 1145-1164 | Article | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. Setting the scene: Use and "non-use" of enhanced cooperation. - III. Legal frame-work for enhanced cooperation. - III.1. Establishing of enhanced cooperation. - III.2. The implementation of enhanced cooperation. - IV. On a related note: Pre-Brexit negotiations and differentiation. - V. Outlook: Dusk or dawn for enhanced cooperation? | (Abstract) Enhanced cooperation under art. 20 TEU is a tool introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam to allow a group of at least nine member states to adopt rules of secondary law that binds only these participating States. Introduced as an instrument to tackle problems of a Union of 27 (and more) States, it has only been used on a few occasions. However, its use (and non-use) is not only dependent solely on the number of Union member states. Shifting political attitudes in the member states and - plainly and simply - the legal framework for this tool of differentiate integration influence how and when enhanced cooperation can and will be used as an instrument to overcome deadlocks in negotiation. Against the background of member state practice, the Article sets out to explore the potential of enhanced cooperation.

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2020 5(3), 1247-1250 | Article | (Abstract) As European Union competences gradually increase, criminal law is one of the areas of EU law on which most attention is focused. At the heart of this field, criminal procedural law is made particularly interesting by its position at the intersection of two sectors that were traditionally excluded from the European Union's harmonisation competences: criminal law and procedural law. Harmonisation and the "cross-fertilisation" of criminal procedural law is happening first through the influence of technical and institutional adjustments necessary to improve communication and cooperation between judicial authorities or to accommodate new actors such as the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), second through the establishment of common (or, in any case, compatible) procedural standards as a necessary complement in order to ensure the efficiency of cooperation mechanisms. Although the agenda set in the Tampere8 and Stockholm9 programmes remains the main source of inspiration for EU interventions in criminal procedural law, the changing political landscape has led to greater importance being given to topics such as terrorism and the need to preserve the rule of law. This Special Section is the result of a conference held at the University of Nantes on 6 and 7 February 2020, titled Towards European Criminal Procedural Law. It includes most of the papers presented at the event, focusing on two main themes: the systemic requirements for a European law of criminal procedure and the different instruments and rules contributing to the emergence of this new field of European law.