International Cooperation Against Transnational Organized Crime: The Practical Experience of the European Union (From UNAFEI Annual Report for 2000 and Resource Material Series No. 59, P 394-416, 2002, -- See NCJ-200221)

• NCJ Number: 200238
• Author(s): Matti Joutsen
• Date Published: October 2002
• Length: 23 pages
• Sale Source: United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: Japan

Annotation

This document discusses the experience of the European Union in dealing with transnational organized crime.

Abstract

The European Union consists of 15 Member States, comprising almost all of Western Europe. One important area of cooperation is known as “justice and home affairs,” which deals with the control of organized crime. An international organization, Europol, coordinates cross-border investigations, and seeks to provide support to domestic law enforcement services in specialist fields. Europol produces annual situation reports on organized crime, bringing together data from all Member States. The Schengen Agreement of 1985 and 1990 has sought to eliminate internal frontier controls, provide for more intensive police cooperation, and establish a shared data system. The need for Schengen arose with one of the primary goals of economic integration, the elimination of border controls on the transit of persons, goods, capital, and services. A more proactive, intelligence-led approach is needed to detect and interrupt organized criminal activities. On the global level the arrangements for the exchange of operational and empirical data continue to be ad hoc between individual law enforcement and even individuals. Within the European Union framework, several arrangements are already in place for gathering and analyzing data. These arrangements include a joint action dealing with the role of liaison officers and their function of information gathering; the use of annual reports on organized crime to define strategies; and the establishment of a police research network to act as an information source on research results. The European Union has put into place an enormous number of measures in only a few years in order to better prevent and control organized crime. The strengths of the European Union lie in political pressure and interest in cooperation. Whether or not the European Union has improved its effectiveness in responding to organized crime can be debated. It is possible to say that cooperation has been made more effective and easier. The networking that is taking place has increased the degree to which practitioners know about one another’s criminal justice system. 27 footnotes