Transcript Europol for the EU

Europol - organised crime and
corruption
Danube Strategy Seminar – Adressing the links
between Organised Crime and Corruption
Blagoevgrad, 27 February – 1 March 2013
Burkhard Mühl, Senior Specialist
Europol Criminal Asset Bureau
[email protected]
Revenue of crime in general
• 70 % of all crimes are committed for financial gain
• In 2009 all criminal proceeds have amounted up to
US Dollar 2.1 trillion, i.e. 3,6 % of the global GDP
(UNODC-2011)
• Corrupt money associated with bribes received by
public officials from developing and transitional
countries is estimated to be $20 billion to $40 billion
per year (World Bank, 2009).
• UK estimates that the yearly revenue of OC is 15
Billion Pound a year
• At present only a small amount of crime proceeds
are seized and confiscated - less than 1% at global
level (UNODC-2011)
EU strategy against corruption
• Four out of five EU citizens regard corruption as a major
problem in their Member State. Corruption is estimated to cost
the economy of the EU €120 billion per year (=one percent of
the EU GDP, and represents only a little less than the annual
budget of the European Union)
• Corruption harms all Member States and the EU as a whole,
lowering investment levels, hampering the fair operation of the
internal market and reducing public finances
• Corruption has many variations, i.e. political corruption,
corrupt activities committed by and with organised criminal
groups, private-to-private corruption or so-called petty
corruption
EU strategy against corruption
• EU Anti-Corruption Report, to monitor and assess Member
States' efforts against corruption and encourage more political
engagement
= new evaluation mechanism to assess anti-corruption efforts
in the EU EU Anti-Corruption Report; will identify trends and
weaknesses that need to be addressed, as well as stimulate
peer learning and exchange of best practices
• Report issued every two years, starting in 2013
• Further actions in the coming years will focus on new rules for
confiscating criminal assets, a plan for how to improve the
gathering of crime statistics, and an strategy to improve
criminal financial investigations in Member States.
EU strategy against corruption
• MS should ensure that financial investigations are pursued
effectively and consistently in corruption cases
• Commission will adopt a strategy in 2012 to strengthen the
quality of financial investigations in the MS and the
development of financial intelligence to be shared between
authorities within MS, as well as between MS and EU agencies
and at international level.
• Europol is asked by the Commission to step up its efforts to
combat corruption as a facilitator for organised crime. This
should include the production of regular threat assessments.
Europol’s role in fighting corruption
• Fighting Corruption is part of Europol’s mandate
• Europol is fully associated with the EACN (Council
Decision 2009-371-JHA)
• Corruption investigations are handled within the
relevant analytical work files and focal points
• The Europol Criminal Assets Bureau is competent
for recovering the proceeds from corruption
Europol’s role in fighting corruption
• Until recently corruption was considered as a
national crime phenomenon, with little need for
international co-ordination
• Large scale corruption cases are increasingly of
international dimension, involving several member
states and thus creating a need for co-ordination,
e.g. by Europol
• The establishment of JITs is an excellent tool to coordinate corruption investigations.
Corruption and organised crime
• Corruption clearly is a facilitator for organised crime
• Criminal groups established in the EU are willing
and able to use influence and corruption on various
levels of society, including in local and national
politics, local government, the judiciary, the media,
law enforcement and border controls.
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Corruption and organised crime
• Corruption is mainly triggered by the prospect of
financial gain
• Money flows linked to corrupt activities are often
disguised by making sophisticated use of offshore
companies and financial intermediaries
• The main purpose is to hide the true beneficiaries of
the corruption and there the money is laundered at
international level
Corruption and organised crime
• It is important to identify the type and level of
corruption used by criminal groups in order to build
suitable counter strategies.
• The fight against OC must specifically target
criminal groups who try to corrupt decision makers,
law enforcement and judicial authorities
• SOCTA 2011 – nexus to corruption in trafficking of
human beings and environmental crime highlighted
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Corruption and organised crime
Case example – illicit cigarette market
Country X – in 2010 illicit cigarette estimated to be
36 % of the cigarette overall market. After the arrest
of 200 border police an d customs officials it is
estimated that the illicit cigarette market has dropped
to 14 %, leading to a yearly budget increase of 400
to 500 million Euro.
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