A new and controversial scenario in the gathering of evidence at the European level: The proposal for a directive on the European investigation order

In April 2010 a group of EU Member States proposed a Directive on the European Investigation Order, an instrument which, if adopted, will significantly change the way in which evidence is gathered at the EU level. After the failure of the EEW, which focused on the exchange of evidence which had already been gathered, the objective of the new text is to create a single instrument for obtaining all kinds of evidence located in another Member State. The aim of this paper is to examine, within the current framework, the suitability of this new instrument, with particular reference to its impact on the rights of defendants.