Kampf gegen das organisierte Verbrechen [en]

Die irische Präsidentschaft hat den Kampf gegen das organsierte Verbrechen zu einer ihrer Prioritäten gemacht. Der jüngste Bericht von Europol zeigt jedoch, dass organisiertes Verbrechen und seine Anwendungsbereiche zunehmen, und dass es immer mehr von der albanischen Mafia bestimmt wird.

Milestones

 

• In 2004, the Commission will submit a new forward planning document;
• By 30 June 2005, the Commission and Council will submit a general report on implementation of the EU strategy to combat organised crime to the European Council. The European Council will provide guidelines on further measures to be taken.

 

Policy Summary

The fact that borders between European Union Member States are opening up is making it easier for criminal organisations to be active across Europe. Criminals have been taking advantage of technological advances (such as the Internet), increasing levels of globalisation and freedom of movement. In its

Organised crime report 2003 , Europol, the European Police Office, states that EU Member States reported the existence of 4,000 organised gangs of criminals with close to 40,000 members.

The term organised crime covers a range of criminal offences such as fraud, arms and drug trafficking, smuggling of radioactive and nuclear materials, trafficking in human beings, money laundering and financial crime. Many groups of organised criminals operating today are known to engage in more than one type of crime.

The Amsterdam Treaty on the European Union, which came into force in May 1999, provides a legal framework for accelerating efforts made at EU level to strengthen law enforcement and judicial co-operation. In October 1999, the Tampere European Council adopted an all-embracing approach to reinforce the fight against serious crime. This included a number of new initiatives designed to foster police co-operation. It agreed that Member States should have common definitions of crimes and sanctions.

The fight against organised crime is dealt with under the third pillar of the EU Treaty, which means that the measures taken are framework decisions and decisions. Measures adopted under the third pillar do not lead to the adoption of Community law. Where instruments adopted under the third pillar are legally binding, they are only binding under international law and not Community law. The European Commission shares the right to initiate proposals with Member States in the area of organised crime.

In March 2000, the JHA Council adopted a ‘European Union strategy for the beginning of a new Millennium’ in the field of prevention and control of organised crime. The so-called

"Millenium Strategy" contains 39 detailed recommendations in various fields and set target dates to implement them.

The EU has set up various bodies and structures to fight organised crime:

• Europol, the EU’s own law-enforcement agency, staffed by police and customs officers;
• Eurojust, a unit of national prosecutors and magistrates;
• European Judiciary Network (EJN), a network of ‘points of contact’, intermediaries intended to assist in judicial co-operation between Member States;
• European Forum on Organised Crime Prevention, a forum involving the business community, researchers and civil society to discuss the relevance and coherence of initiatives to tackle organised crime;
• EU Crime Prevention Network, which consists of National Representatives designated by each Member State plus substitutes and crime prevention contact points within academia or umbrella organisations.

Issues

Need for increased EU police cooperation

There is currently a lack of operational co-operation between Member States' police forces and between them and Europol. The EU is seeking ways to improve the exchange of information and intelligence between national police forces and Europol. Discussions are ongoing about the replacement of the Europol Convention with a legislative instrument to strengthen Europol's capabilities.

Impact of enlargement on organised crime  

In its Organised crime report 2003, Europol asserts that the enlargement of the EU will present new opportunities to organised crime (OC) and that many of the Accession States will become source, transit and destination countries for criminal goods and services. In addition, Europol indicates that international OC groups are relocating their activities and members to these countries, which have also become focal points for the investment of illegal funds.

Europol's Organised crime report 2003 also highlights that ethnic Albanian organised crime groups continue to be among the main threats to the EU, because of their involvement in trafficking in human beings and drug smuggling.

International cooperation against organised crime

The European Union has been actively involved in the UN negotiations on a

United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime , which it signed in Palermo in December 2000, and on its three protocols. These relate to the smuggling of illegal migrants, trafficking in human beings and the fight against the illicit manufacture and trade of firearms. They provide for the creation of domestic criminal offences to combat organised crime, the adoption of new, sweeping frameworks for mutual legal assistance, extradition, law-enforcement cooperation and technical assistance and training. On 22 August 2003, the European Commission proposed to the Council the ratification, on behalf of the Community, of the UN Convention and its supplementing protocols.

The EU is also working on improving ties with neighbouring countries (such as the Russian federation and the Western Balkans) to improve the exchange of information and to carry out joint actions to counter organised crime.

Establishing public-private partnerships

The Irish Presidency (January to July 2004) is committed to exploring ways of developing co-operation between law enforcement authorities and the private sector in tackling organised crime. It organised a conference on that topic in Dublin in November 2003, see the

Dublin Declaration on “Tackling Organised Crime in Partnership” .

Creation of a European Intelligence Service

Some specialists argue that the creation of a European Prosecutor and a European Intelligence service would help to fight organised crime. Austria backed a discussion paper during the JHA Council on 19 February stating that such European Intelligence Service is needed for early identification of potential threats to the security of the European Union, and particularly terrorist threats. The paper says that the "added value of the EIA would be that the agency itself would obtain the information that is required for processing the threat assessments".

Positions

The Irish Presidency sees the value in seeking to take forward work on the concept of partnerships between the public and private sectors as a means of stepping up the fight against organised crime. It is expected to bring forward a proposal for discussion to develop a model protocol for partnerships at a national level between the public sector, including law enforcement agencies, and the private sector.

In its 2003 report on organised crime, Europol states that a more proactive and co-operative fight against organised crime in the EU could be achieved by a higher degree of prioritisation and co-ordination, resulting in legal harmonisation (e.g. in the areas of drug trafficking, illegal immigration, trafficking in human beings and money laundering). Legislation regarding operational, cross-border co-operation needs continuous review.

In its report on Europe's security strategy released in December 2003, Javier Solana, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, stated that "Europe is a prime target for organised crime. This internal threat to our security has an important external dimension: cross-border trafficking in drugs, women, illegal migrants and weapons accounts for a large part of the activities of criminal gangs. It can have links with terrorism. (...) Such criminal activities are often associated with weak or failing states. (...) Taking these different elements together - terrorism committed to maximum violence, the availability of weapons of mass destruction, organised crime, the weakening of the state system and the privatisation of force - we could be confronted with a very radical threat indeed".

In a speech given to the Irish Institute of European Affairs, Professor Jorg Monar, specialist Adviser to the House of Lords EU Select Committee said that organised crime remains the biggest challenge in the area of European cross-border crime. He suggested that the EU needs a more inventive and extensive approach. It concluded that as the EU enlarges, it will become more enticing for organised crime, which benefits from the liberalisation of movement in the Union. Professor Monar stated that a Council initiative is required in this area, and suggested that the Irish government had acquired the reputation for being somewhat reluctant about formal measures in the fight against organised crime, preferring the more flexible approach of common targets.