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HARMONIZÁCIA ALEBO UNIFIKÁCIA? – NÁSTROJE NAZEFEKTÍVNENIE OCHRANY FINANČNÝCH ZÁUJMOVEURÓPSKEJ ÚNIE The objective of the article is to analyse the efforts of the European Union for the protection of its financial interests. The first part of the paper sets out the brief historical development of the criminal law protection of the financial interests of the European Union with particular emphasis on the strengthened and reinforced legal framework provided by the Treaty of Lisbon. The second part of the study focuses to the newly adopted Directive of the EU on the fight against fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law. However, the paper does not intend to analyse the provisions of the Directive in details, it only aims to examine whether it can provide for an effective and unified protection to the financial interests of the European Union. Cieľom tohto článku je analyzovať snahy Európskej únie o ochrany jej finančných záujmov. Prvá časť článku predstavuje stručný historický vývoj trestnoprávnej ochrany finančných záujmov Európskej únie s osobitným dôrazom na posilnený právny rámec, ktorý poskytuje Lisabonská zmluva. Druhá časť štúdie sa zameriava na novoprijatú smernicu EÚ o boji proti podvodom, ktoré poškodzujú finančné záujmy Únie, prostredníctvom trestného práva. Článok však nemá za cieľ podrobne analyzovať ustanovenia smernice, iba sa zameriava na preskúmanie, či môže poskytnúť účinnú a jednotnú ochranu finančných záujmov Európskej únie. URL:https://sic.pravo.upjs.sk/

The European Public Prosecutor's Office: Comparative Analysis with particular National Prosecution Systems Abstract: The European Public Prosecutor's Office provides not only a major breakthrough in the framework of European Criminal Law, but a revolutionary concept as a first cross-national prosecution system as well, including the non-European jurisdictions. Taking into account how sensitive is the matter of convergence of European Criminal Law for the Member States, as well as their endeavour to preserve sovereignty with regard to criminal policies, it is obvious, that there was not (and still is not) any agreement regarding the form, or even mere existence, of the EPPO. In my opinion, for the purposes of the EPPO's efficiency assessment, as well as alternatives of its particular aspects, it is most suitable to compare it with other existing prosecutions systems in chosen developed countries. Germany, France, USA and Japan were chosen as those countries, pursuant to the criteria of both Anglo-American and continental legal systems representation, the countries' GDP, geopolitical significance, the development of their legal systems in history, and the type of political establishment. In the first part of my thesis, I focus on analysing the aspects of the new office, its historical background and position...

The present paper, after an overview of the main provisions of the PIF Directive and some European Union bodies involved in its implementation, focuses on the issue of corporate liability arising from tax crimes. On this point, the Italian legislator, having missed the deadline for transposition of the mentioned directive, used a decree law, even in the absence of the requirements of necessity and urgency, to make tax crimes a prerequisite of the corporate liability. The lack of a systematic approach in the inclusion of tax crimes in Legislative Decree no. 231/2001 has not been fixed even through the recent Legislative Decree, no. 75/2020 implementing the PIF directive.

Financijski interesi Europske unije danas nisu dovoljno zaštićeni, a na prekogranične prijevare povezane s PDV-om otpada velik dio gubitaka u nacionalnim proračunima. Postojećim tijelima Europske unije, Europskom uredu za borbu protiv prijevara (OLAF), Agenciji Europske unije za suradnju u području kaznenog pravosuđa (Eurojust) i Europskom policijskom uredu (Europol) nedostaju potrebna ovlaštenja za provođenje kaznenih istraga i progon počinitelja kaznenih dijela počinjenih na štetu financijskih interesa Europske unije. Stoga su države članice Europske unije zaključile da im je u borbi protiv počinitelja kaznenih djela počinjenih na štetu financijskih interesa Europske unije nužna pojačana suradnja osnivanjem neovisnog i visoko specijaliziranog ureda tužiteljstva, čiji će tužitelji provoditi istrage na usklađen način u svim državama članicama sudionica, te će brzo razmjenjivati informacije i udružiti napore kako bi osigurali koordinirane istrage, te brzo zamrzavanje ili oduzimanje imovine u cilju što učinkovitije zaštite financijskih interesa Europske unije. Integracija Ureda europskog javnog tužitelja (u daljnjem tekstu: EPPO ) u nacionalne pravne sustave država članica sudionica zahtijevat će promjene određenih zakonskih propisa, pa tako i u Republici Hrvatskoj. Stoga će i kaznenopravni sustav Republike Hrvatske morati doživjeti određene prilagodbe i izmjene. Prilagodbe će biti nužne u načinu rada i postupanju državnih odvjetnika ali i drugih sudionika u kaznenom postupku, osobito u prethodnom postupku, u kojem će EPPO putem europskih delegiranih tužitelja obavljati sve radnje i preuzeti prava i obveze državnih odvjetnika. The Role and Position of the European Public Prosecutor in Croatian Preliminary Proceedings The present financial interests of the European Union are not sufficiently protected, and VAT-related cross-border frauds account for extensive losses in national budgets. Existing EU bodies, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the European Union’s Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust) and the European Union’s law enforcement agency (Europol) lack the necessary powers to conduct criminal investigations and prosecute perpetrators of criminal offences committed to the detriment of financial interests of the European Union. To combat the perpetrators of criminal offences committed to the detriment of the European Union’s financial interests, the EU Member States recognized the need for enhanced cooperation. Thus, by setting up an independent and highly specialized prosecutor’s office, whose prosecutors will conduct investigations in a coordinated manner in all participating Member States, information will be exchanged swiftly, and forces joined to ensure coordinated investigations, rapid seizure and confiscation of assets in order to protect the European Union’s financial interests as effectively as possible. The integration of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (hereinafter: EPPO) into the national legal systems of the participating Member States will require changes in their legislation, the Republic of Croatia included. Therefore, the criminal justice system of the Republic of Croatia will have to undergo certain adjustments and changes. How prosecutors and other criminal proceedings participants work and act will need to be adjusted especially in the preliminary proceedings in which EPPO will perform all actions and assume the rights and obligations of the prosecutors through the European Delegated Prosecutors., Financial interests of the European Union are not sufficiently protected nowadays, and VAT-related cross-border frauds account for much of the losses in national budgets. Existing EU bodies, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the European Union’s judicial cooperation unit (Eurojust) and the European Union’s law enforcement agency (Europol) lack the necessary powers to conduct criminal investigations and prosecute perpetrators of criminal offences committed to the detriment of financial interests of the European Union. Therefore, EU Member States concluded that in order to combat perpetrators of criminal offences committed to the detriment of the European Union's financial interests, enhanced cooperation is needed by setting up an independent and highly specialized prosecutor's office, whose prosecutors will conduct investigations in a coordinated manner in all participating Member States, and swiftly exchange information and join forces to ensure coordinated investigations, rapid seizure and confiscation of assets in order to protect the European Union's financial interests as effectively as possible. The integration of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (hereinafter: EPPO) into the national legal systems of the participating Member States will require changes in certain legislation, including in the Republic of Croatia. Therefore, the criminal justice system of the Republic of Croatia will have to undergo certain adjustments and changes. The manner in which prosecutors and other criminal proceedings participants work and act will need to be adjusted especially in the preliminary proceedings in which EPPO will perform all actions and assume the rights and obligations of the prosecutors through the European Delegated Prosecutors.