Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström will put forward a series of proposals in the course of next year "to quickly and efficiently seize and confiscate criminal profits and assets".
The current legal framework, which dates back to 2001, allows EU countries to decide what to do with criminal assets when the sums involved do not exceed €4,000. Above this threshold, they are obliged to confiscate the assets.
When the proceeds of crime cannot be seized, EU rules allow "for the confiscation of property […], including requests for the enforcement of foreign confiscation orders".
Confiscating assets, however, has so far proven difficult, particularly beyond national borders. Criminal organisations are traditionally very successful at replacing their leaders. And many of them are even able to continue their activities from prison.
But criminals and terrorists are more seriously damaged when deprived of their assets. Seizures of goods and resources gained from illegal activities therefore play a crucial role.
Money laundering
The battle against organised crime does not only involve confiscation of illegal assets, but also the identification of legal businesses which help to ‘clean’ illegal proceeds, known as money laundering.
Casinos or discos are among the traditional venues used for money laundering purposes, due to the difficulty in tracking revenues. The profits of a casino can, for instance, be boosted beyond its actual activity. This way, resources coming from illegal traffic can become legal.
Entire industrial sectors, such as real estate businesses, are heavily infiltrated by so called ‘cleaned money’, which often pushes prices above real values and contributes to dangerous financial bubbles.
To better combat such activities, Brussels is thinking of reviewing current rules in order to help track such assets and identify their real owners.
"The EU should consider amending its anti-money laundering legislation to enable identification of company owners and therefore improve the tracking of criminal assets,"reads a note from the European Commission.
The current piece of key EU legislation in the field of money laundering is the 2005 directive "on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing". The directive will revised to make it more effective.
Opposition to what will be the third review of this directive cannot be ruled out, as there was plenty during the second review in 2005. Privacy issues and legal challenges are likely to arise (see ‘Background’).
Towards a European terrorist financing programme
Brusselsalso intends to develop a European programme to track financial assets belonging to terrorist groups, similar to the US Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP).
The European Commission has already announced plans to equip the EU with a similar instrument, with proposals due in 2011.
The Commission will "propose an EU approach for freezing the assets of suspected terrorist individuals and groups active inside the EU," reads a note from the EU executive.
As a preventive measure, the fight against terrorism should also involve the establishment of "networks of community activists, law enforcement, academics and others to share and discuss best practice in spotting and addressing radicalisation and recruitment leading to acts of terrorism," the note adds.
An EU radicalisation-awareness network, with cells in all member states, will be put in place as of next year, according to the Commission’s plans.
In addition, Brussels is encouraging a common EU approach "on increasing protection of land transport". Proposals in this field are also due next year.
