ABSTRACT
The European Community has been a bold adventure in economic and political unity that has dominated western Europe for 50 years. Slowly, but surely it has progressed with a long-term strategy of increasing political integration, even though it has yet to acquire legal personality. In terms of international co-operation, the EU has had to resolve significant cultural and historical differences to invent for itself workable and acceptable mechanisms to achieve success. This is true not least in the field of criminal justice.
