Samenvatting

The competence of the EU to legislate on criminal matters has shifted the traditional paradigm of domestic criminal law. This paper discusses the developments around the use of minimum rules for the approximation of substantive and procedural criminal norms in the EU. Starting from the need to clarify the concept of minimum rules, the focus lies on the question of national discretion, namely the question whether and to what extent Member States should be able to go beyond the minimum EU standards and implement more far-reaching provisions in their respective jurisdictions.