The European Union and organised crime

Résumé du document

With the French and Dutch voters recent rejection of the proposed constitutional treaty for the European Union, a treaty with a number of proposals in the field of Justice and Home Affairs, has been postponed. However, both EU leaders and the general public continue to place high expectations on this specific policy area, which has witnessed a particularly rapid development since the Treaty of Maastricht. The fight against organised crime at the EU level is only one aspect among other policies, but it too has been increasingly emphasised over the past few years, even if the first European-wide initiatives against organised crime date back to the seventies. Back in the 1970s, the Trevi Group, called after a meeting in Rome, was designed to provide a basis for greater European co-operation to combat terrorism. In an opaque and informal fashion, the Trevi strategy was barely concerned with the implication of border controls between member states. Then, the Trevi strategy created issues of illegal immigration, drugs, as well as serious and organised crime .

Extraits

[...] He points out the fact that the European Union is not a super state, but an international organisation characterized by flexibility and opt-outs. He also contends that the institutional setting of the Union offers a satisfying source of accountability, direct via the European Parliament and indirect via elected national officials in the Council of ministers and the European Council. Quite convincingly, he argues that it might be difficult for the EU to expand democratic participation, given the complexity of the issues involved and the fact that of the five most salient issues in most Western European democracies (health care, education, law and order, pensions and social security, taxation) none is primarily and EU competence. [...]

[...] However, it also seems that the European Union has brought an increasing acknowledgement of the problem of organised crime that has contributed to reforms or reorganisations within national systems. Moreover, European integration has increased the transparency and knowledge of one another's systems[23], and this may be its most positive contribution. Stepping up co-operation on matters of organised crime in the European Union stumbles over obstacles due to its particular setting as an international organisation relying upon its member states' law enforcement agencies and good will. [...]

[...] It also seems that the limitations imposed by the treaties hinder the development of EU-wide co-operation in the area of organised crime. Unanimity vote indeed applies to the majority of treaty provisions concerned with organised crime, which is seen by some as an obstacle to faster decision- making. The use of framework decisions already mentioned above also appears as a flaw, as it does not impose real obligations on member states. Those member states can block closer co-operation as well, another perceived brake on a more efficient action. [...]

[...] They thought that the European Union was the relevant level because of the perceived nature of an organised crime which was increasingly transnational. Commentators also point at the transnational challenges brought by the end of the Cold War and at the spill over effects of economic integration, which required increased co-operation in a free-trade area that potentially created more opportunities for organised crime groups[2]. In 1991, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, faced with concerns about the future security challenges on Germany's Eastern borders, pushed through a proposal to create a European police office. [...]

[...] Article 2 of its Convention states that its role is to co- ordinate the investigation of forms of serious international crime, “where there are factual indications that an organized criminal structure is involved” and when the interests of or more member states are affected by the forms of crime in question in such a way as to require a common approach by the member states owing to the scale, significance and consequences of the offences concerned”[10]. A number of other actions have also been implemented by the European Union in various fields. [...]