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The preventive role of the judiciary in protecting the financial interest of the European Union.
A comparative analysis for improved performance
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1.2.
AIM AND OBJECTIVES
The project aims at strengthening the preventive role of the judiciary in protecting the financial interests
of the Union.
To achieve this goal, a comparative law analysis has been carried out to determine the current
contribution of the judiciary to prevent and sanction fraud, corruption, and other illegal activities
affecting the financial interests of the Union.
The analysis focuses on the judicial practice as regards the sanctioning of legal persons for corruption,
money laundering, fraud or related criminal offences, as well as the current practice in applying accessory
penalties such as exclusion from procurement procedures, as a type of specific judicial protection of the
financial interests of the Union against fraud. The project is based on the idea that exchange of
information in this context is vital to allow for peer learning and cross fertilization.
Building on the comparative analysis of four national case studies: Greece, Italy, Lithuania and Romania
and the recommendations proposed by expert researchers based on consultancy of the judiciary and
administration professionals, the project advocates for an increased awareness of the judiciary on the
importance of its role in protecting the financial interest of the Union.
To this end, the project included 5 main activities, as presented in figure 1.
Figure 1. Main elements of project design
1.3.
EXPECTED IMPACT AND RESULTS
On the short run, the project will provide a comparative perspective on the current sanctioning practice
of the courts with respect to offences affecting the financial interests of the Union. This analysis is
relevant in the context of the relationship between administrative and criminal approaches to fight fraud
and corruption.
A. Design of the project and implementation tools
1. Administrative
/
resources 2. Knowledge 3. Advocacy targets
B. Implementation at national level with partners
4. Four simetric national reports
C. EU research
5. One comparative report study
D. EU policy recommedation
6. Policy pack
E. EU Advocacy
7. Event promotion 8. Web platform