The European Public Prosecutor’s Office

“This excellent book on the European Public Prosecutor’s Office provides an exciting and compelling analysis of an essential and largely under-researched topic. It is highly recommended for anyone interested in Criminal Justice, European Studies, Political Science, Law and Criminology, or European Security more generally.”

—Christian Kaunert, Professor of International Security, Dublin City University, Ireland & Professor of Policing and Security & Director of the International Centre for Policing and Security, University of South Wales, UK.

"How did the European Public Prosecutor’s Office go from pipedream to reality, especially in light of member-states’ major concerns about loss of national sovereignty? Laura Schmeer explains in this ground-breaking book that it was all about the power of ideas and discourse, wielded to great effect by the Commission as discursive policy entrepreneur in the complicated negotiations with member-states' leaders in the Council, the European Parliament, and national parliaments. A must-read for all those interested in the increasing empowerment of the EU in the judicial realm."
 —Vivien A. Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration, Professor Emerita, Boston University, USA.

This book offers a comprehensive account of the creation of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the development of a supranational criminal justice system by national and European institutional actors. It analyses the emergence of an EU authority in criminal justice, one of the last bastions of national sovereignty. It explains how and why core state powers were delegated to this new European law enforcement body and how sovereignty was reconfigured in this context. This book reveals the political dimension of the EU criminal justice domain, thereby illuminating how sovereignty is understood by national and European decision-makers today and negotiated in an intricate process of accommodating conflicting norms and interests.

Laura Schmeer obtained her Ph.D. in Political and Social Sciences from Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, in January 2024. Her work focuses on EU institutions and decision-making, EU bodies and agencies, and the EU Justice and Home Affairs domain.