Tackling organised crime

Key points

The EESC:

• welcomes the European Commission's proposal on the EU Strategy to tackle Organised Crime 2021-2025 that sets out the priorities, actions and targets to be achieved over the next five years. This is all the more important given that this is the first strategy on organised crime since the Treaty of Lisbon came into force, setting out specific medium- and long-term objectives to be carried out in full respect of fundamental rights;
• believes that the EU and the Member States should be capable of anticipating the activities of criminal organisations to be one step ahead of them, focusing on monitoring, infiltration of endangered environments, collecting and analysing data as well as on preventive steps. In this context, particular emphasis must be placed on developing modern, comprehensive forms of international cooperation, enhancing the functional capacity of the systems and databases used cooperation with civil society organisations, as well as investing in new technology instruments;
• underlines its support for the allocation of additional resources to assist Member States with advanced cyber-solutions, in order to acquire e-information, safeguard e-evidence and make available specific technical equipment and software for active use in cross-border operations and investigations;
• recognises that reinforcing asset recovery and anti-money laundering measures as well as promoting financial investigations to eliminate profits generated by organised crime and preventing infiltration into the legal economy and society are key in the fight against organised crime;
• encourages the Member States to carry out public campaigns on organised crime, so that citizens receive the necessary information on how organised criminal groups operate and how to avoid them points out that making law enforcement and the judiciary fit for the digital age, including ensuring access to digital leads and evidence, is one of the most important aspects of the fight against organised crime;
• notes that to effectively prevent and combat organised crime groups and ensuring the safety and security as one of the highest priority for citizens of the European Union, law enforcement authorities need to have access to the necessary information in full respect of fundamental rights;
• welcomes and supports the initiative to develop cooperation with third countries.