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31. InstructsitsPresidenttoforwardthisresolutiontotheCouncil,theCommission,thegovernments
oftheMemberStatesandtheCouncilofEurope.
17. Prevention and control of organised crime
B5-0506/2000
European Parliament resolution on the Council’s action plan for ‘the prevention and control of
organised crime: a European Union strategy for the beginning of the new millennium’
The European Parliament,
/dashhavingregardtotheCouncil’sactionplanfor‘thepreventionandcontroloforganisedcrime:aEur-
opeanUnionstrategyforthebeginningofthenewmillennium’(1),
/dashhavingregardtoTitleVIoftheEUTreaty,andinparticularArticle29thereof,/dashhaving regard to the Presidency conclusions of the Tampere European Council of 15/16 October
1999,andinparticularpoints41-62thereof,
/dashhavingregard totheCommission’sdraft‘scoreboard’,withtheaidofwhich progressincarrying out
the measures required to achieve an area of freedom, security and justice, where they relate to the
Union-widefightagainstcrimeisassessed,
A. whereasorganisedcrimehassubstantiallyincreased withintheEUoverthelastdecade,andwhereas
inthe fieldsofcyber crime, terrorism, trafficking inhumanbeings,drugsandarms,childpornogra-phy,moneylaundering,corruptionandfraudinparticularactionisurgentlyneeded,andwhereastheEuropeanUnionmustadoptaharmoniseddefinitionoforganisedcrimewhichincludesthesefields,
B. whereasTitleVIoftheEUTreatyrightlydescribesthecombatingofcrime,organisedorotherwise,as
essentialtotheprogressiveestablishmentofanareaoffreedom,securityandjustice,
C. whereas within the sphere of Title VI of the EU Treaty, as amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam,
consultation is required only for the adoption of specific legal acts (Article 39(1)), but whereas inArticleK.6,secondparagraph,oftheEUTreaty,asamendedbytheTreatyofMaastricht,consultationwasrequired‘ontheprincipalaspectsofactivities’inrespectofcooperationinthefieldsofjusticeandhome affairs, and whereas one of the basic principles underlying the Treaty of Amsterdam was to
strengthenParliament’sposition,
D. whereasthecontroloforganisedcrimeisacentralconcernoftheEuropeanpublic,giventhatorga-
nisedcrimecanuseitsconsiderablefinancialstrengthtoinfiltratethepolitics,policeandeconomyofaStateandhenceunderminesocietyasawhole,
E. whereas,insomethirdcountries,organisedcrimehasalreadyinfiltratedcertainsectorswithinpublic
bodies,theeconomyandthefinancialworld,andwhereasthisrequirestheMemberStatestoexercisegreatervigilancyandtoadoptamorerigorousapproachtothepolitical,tradeandeconomicrelationswhicharetobeestablished(orwhichhavealreadybeenestablished)withthosecountries,
(1) OJC124,3.5.2000,p.1.17.5.2001 EN C146/113 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
Thursday 21 September 2000
F. whereasthesubversionofsocietybyorganisedcrimerepresentsaspecificdangertothefundamental
principlesoftheruleoflaw,suchastheindependenceofthejudiciaryandthelegalityofadministra-tion,butwhereastheEuropeanUnion,pursuanttoArticle6(1)oftheEUTreaty,hasgivenacommit-menttotheprinciplesof‘liberty,democracy,respectforhumanrightsandfundamentalfreedoms,andtheruleoflaw’,andisthusunderalegalandmoralobligationtohelpinthefightagainstorganisedcrime,
G. whereasorganisedcrimeisprofitingfromtheCommunity’spastpolicyinconnectionwiththeintro-
duction of fundamental freedoms and abolishing border checks within the EU and whereas everyeffortmustbemadetoensuregreatercooperationbetweennationalpoliceforcesandjudicialautho-rities in order to combat the spread of all forms of organised crime and the threat it represents tosocietyandtheCommunityasawhole,
H. concerned that criminal organisations, which normally operate across borders, are using their high
degree of mobility to exploit the provisions restricting the powers of the authorities to their ownnationalterritory,andarealsoexploitingthediversityofadministrativeandcriminaljusticesystems,takingupresidenceinaccordancewiththeir‘requirements’,
I. whereas disparities exist between national prosecution systems and there is therefore a need for
greater cooperation between Member States for the purpose of determining areas in which nationalprosecutionsystemscanbemorecloselyalignedinordertosecuretheeffectiveprosecutionofcrim-inalsandcriminalorganisationsoperatingacrossborders,
J. whereas, as the risk of detection is one of the primary deterrents to crime, effective measures to
combatcrimewillatthesametimehaveasubstantialpreventive effect,butwhereas,inanycase,in
additiontoprosecution,preventionshouldplayamajorroleintheEU’sstrategytocombatorganised
crime;
K. whereasestablishinganareaoffreedom,securityandjusticerequireseffectiveactionagainstorganised
crimeandthiswillbepossibleonlyiftheEUMemberStatesactinconcertandare prepared toputasidetheirnationalinterestsifjointmeasuresoffergreaterprospectsofsuccess,
L. whereas it is essential in the fight against organised crime that cooperation with administrations in
thirdcountriesbesteppedupandinformationbesharedthatwillleadtothesuccessfulcounteringoforganisedcrimewhichoperatesacrossinternationalbordersworldwide,
M. whereas a longer-term joint strategy is therefore required, embodying not only objectives but also
deadlines,andsettingpriorities,
N. whereas the objectives setin suchanactionplancannotbebasedonwishful thinking, butmustbe
feasible,
O. convincedthatsomepoliticallyhighlycontentiousmattersalsoneedtobetackledpromptly,asdelays
willnotincreasethechancesofimprovement,
P. whereasnewtechnologyhasmadeiteasierfororganisedcrimetogainaholdonsocietybyproviding
itwithanewmeansofdoingso;whereas,therefore,ever-greaterattentionwillneedtobepaidtotheimproperuseofinformationtechnologyandillegaluseoftheInternet,
Q. whereasseriouspaedophileoffencesarebeingcommittedonandaroundtheInternet,
Failure to consult Parliament on strategic papers
1. ConfirmstheneedtocombatorganisedcrimeatUnionlevelwhilstensuringthatfundamentalfree-
doms, the rights of the individual and procedural guarantees are upheld, in particular the rights of thedefenceandrespectforprivacy;
2. Welcomes, therefore, as a matter of principle, the drafting of a new action plan setting out a Eur-
opean Union strategy for the prevention and control of organised crime for the beginning of the newmillennium,thusensuringjointaction;C146/114 EN17.5.2001 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
Thursday 21 September 2000
3. Pointsout,however,thattheTreatyofMaastrichtprovidedforobligatoryconsultationofParliament
‘ontheprincipalaspectsofactivities’intheareasofjusticeandhomeaffairs;
4. Pointsoutthatoneoftheaimsofthe Treaty ofAmsterdamwastoremedy the lackofdemocratic
legitimationofEUlegalacts,sothatanyreductionofParliament’srightswouldruncountertothespiritofthatTreaty;
5. Firmly opposes, therefore, the Council’s attitude, which appears to be signalling that it regards
informing Parliament of work on strategic papers as a mere act of courtesy, and thus sees consultationofParliamentasunnecessary;
6. CallsontheCouncilinfuturetoconsultParliamentonallstrategicpapers,whichentailsnotsimply
awaitingParliament’sopinion,buttakingitintoaccountandgivingitproperconsideration;
Substance of the action plan
7. Notes that the priority given to individual recommendations in the action plan does not always
reflecttheurgencyoftheobjectives,butoftentheirpracticability;
8. Emphasisesthatmaximumpriorityshouldbegiventomeasuresdesignedtoachievemajorobjectives
suchasthetracing,freezing,seizureandconfiscationoftheproceedsofcrimeandtherecyclingofmoney
orother benefits derived fromillegal activities, since illegal accumulation isthe aim pursued bycriminal
organisations,whosestrengthliespreciselyintheirhavinghugefinancialandeconomicresourcesattheirdisposal;
9. Fearsthatthefactthattheactionplanissupposedtobebasedonascaleofprioritiesfrom1to5,
butthatnoitemsare given priority 5andonlyonereceives priority 4,might callintoquestionthe ser-iousnessoftheworkundertaken;
10. CallsontheCouncil,therefore,toreviewtheprioritiessetintheirentirety;
Council Presidency conclusions on crime prevention
11. WelcomesthedecisionofthePortugueseCouncilPresidencytoemphasisetheurgencyandimpor-
tanceofthissubjectbyorganisingahigh-levelconferenceoncrimeprevention;
12. CallsontheCounciltoimplementthemutual-evaluationschemeandtonotifytheEuropeanParlia-
ment, the national parliaments and the general public of the results achieved, with a view to ensuringgreatertransparencyintheactionsundertakenbytheMemberStatesinordertocombatorganisedcrime;
13. CongratulatestheCouncilPresidencyonthedrawing-upoftheconclusionsoncrimepreventionat
thisconference,conclusionswhichincorporatesomeofthematterscalledforbyParliament’sCommitteeonCitizens’FreedomsandRights,JusticeandHomeAffairs;
14. RequeststheCouncilalsototakethefollowingpointsintoaccount:
/dashthe Member States and the Commission should be urged, in the course of their legislative work, to
seektomakecrimemoredifficulttocommitandagreaterrisktotheperpetratorandtoeliminatethebenefitscriminalsmaygainfromtheiractions;
/dashallsectionsofsociety mustbemobilisedtoreduce the demandforillegal goodsandservices, which
wouldalsoreducethecrimerate;
/dashindustryandtheauthoritiesmustbeencouragedtointroducetechnicalpreventivemeasures;theCom-
mission should consider the degree to which criminals might be deterred by the judicious use of
technicalaidssuchaselectronicvehicleimmobilisers,specialsecuritystandardsforcreditcardsetc.;
/dashtheCommissionandCouncilshouldsubmittoParliamentaproposalforalegalacttoensurethatall
legaldecision-makingprocessesatnationalandEUlevelcanbeassessedintermsoftheir impactoncrime;17.5.2001 EN C146/115 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
Thursday 21 September 2000
/dashamongstthevariouscrimepreventionmeasures,particularemphasisshouldbeplacedonintroducing
policies designed to improve difficult living conditions and to reduce social marginalisation sincethese,withintheEUstrategy,areidentifiedasfactorswhichgeneratecrime;
/dashinordertopreventanyincreaseindrugdependencyand,therefore,toensuremoreeffectivepreven-
tionofallrelatedcrimes(particularlycrimeagainstproperty),emphasisshouldbeplacedonintrodu-cingproperdamage-reductionpolicies;
/dashthe Council and Commission should undertake to combat crime committed via the Internet, with
particularattentionbeingpaidtositeswhichcontainactsofviolenceagainstchildrenandpropagatepaedophilematerial;
15. Hopesthattheconclusionswillleadtoaspecificactionprogrammelayingdowndetailedresponsi-
bilities and deadlines for crime prevention, especially as Chapter 2.3 of the Action Plan on organisedcrime,devotedtosteppingupprevention,containsmanyvaluableinsightsonpreventionwhichhavenotbeenmatchedbyrecommendations;
16. Calls on the Council to keep Parliament informed of further work on crime prevention, and to
consultParliamentbeforeanystrategicpapersonthissubjectareadopted;
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17. InstructsitsPresidenttoforwardthisresolutiontotheCouncilandCommission.C146/116 EN17.5.2001 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
Thursday 21 September 2000