Criminal law against human trafficking within the EU: Comparison of an approximated legislation?

This article compares the criminal legislations against trafficking in human beings in force in European Union Member States, the purpose being to assess their levels of approximation with the requirements set by the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and combating THB, which replaced Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA (2011/36/EU). The Directive, which strengthens efforts to fight trafficking, is the first legal instrument in the area of substantive criminal law since the Lisbon Treaty. In what follows, the concept of approximation is connected to the actions required to make EU criminal justice systems more consistent with each other. More specifically, the assessment consists of a gap analysis conducted to evaluate the compliance of EU Member States’ legislations with the EU standards soon after the entry into force of the Directive. A more approximated legislation would help ensure compatibility among the applicable rules, and would improve cooperation between countries.