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’
Date: 2000-09-21
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European Parliament, action programme, consultation procedure, cooperation policy, fight against crime, organised crime

17.5.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 146/113

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Thursday 21 September 2000

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments

31.
of the Member States and the Council of Europe.

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,

  having regard to the Council’s action plan for ‘the prevention and control of organised crime: a Eur-

opean Union strategy for the beginning of the new millennium’ (1),

  having regard to Title VI of the EU Treaty, and in particular Article 29 thereof,

  having regard to the Presidency conclusions of the Tampere European Council of 15/16 October

1999, and in particular points 41-62 thereof,

  having regard to the Commission’s draft ‘scoreboard’, with the aid of which progress in carrying out
the measures required to achieve an area of freedom, security and justice, where they relate to the
Union-wide fight against crime is assessed,

A. whereas organised crime has substantially increased within the EU over the last decade, and whereas
in the fields of cyber crime, terrorism, trafficking in human beings, drugs and arms, child pornogra-
phy, money laundering, corruption and fraud in particular action is urgently needed, and whereas the
European Union must adopt a harmonised definition of organised crime which includes these fields,

B. whereas Title VI of the EU Treaty rightly describes the combating of crime, organised or otherwise, as

essential to the progressive establishment of an area of freedom, security and justice,

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 in
Article K.6, second paragraph, of the EU Treaty, as amended by the Treaty of Maastricht, consultation
was required ‘on the principal aspects of activities’ in respect of cooperation in the fields of justice and
home affairs, and whereas one of the basic principles underlying the Treaty of Amsterdam was to
strengthen Parliament’s position,

D. whereas the control of organised crime is a central concern of the European public, given that orga-
nised crime can use its considerable financial strength to infiltrate the politics, police and economy of
a State and hence undermine society as a whole,

E. whereas, in some third countries, organised crime has already infiltrated certain sectors within public
bodies, the economy and the financial world, and whereas this requires the Member States to exercise
greater vigilancy and to adopt a more rigorous approach to the political, trade and economic relations
which are to be established (or which have already been established) with those countries,

(1) OJ C 124, 3.5.2000, p. 1.

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F. whereas the subversion of society by organised crime represents a specific danger to the fundamental
principles of the rule of law, such as the independence of the judiciary and the legality of administra-
tion, but whereas the European Union, pursuant to Article 6(1) of the EU Treaty, has given a commit-
ment to the principles of ‘liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and
the rule of law’, and is thus under a legal and moral obligation to help in the fight against organised
crime,

G. whereas organised crime is profiting from the Community’s past policy in connection with the intro-
duction of fundamental freedoms and abolishing border checks within the EU and whereas every
effort must be made to ensure greater cooperation between national police forces and judicial autho-
rities in order to combat the spread of all forms of organised crime and the threat it represents to
society and the Community as a whole,

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 own
national territory, and are also exploiting the diversity of administrative and criminal justice systems,
taking up residence in accordance with their ‘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 national
prosecution systems can be more closely aligned in order to secure the effective prosecution of crim-
inals and criminal organisations operating across borders,

J. whereas, as the risk of detection is one of the primary deterrents to crime, effective measures to
combat crime will at the same time have a substantial preventive effect, but whereas, in any case, in
addition to prosecution, prevention should play a major role in the EU’s strategy to combat organised
crime;

K. whereas establishing an area of freedom, security and justice requires effective action against organised
crime and this will be possible only if the EU Member States act in concert and are prepared to put
aside their national interests if joint measures offer greater prospects of success,

L. whereas it is essential in the fight against organised crime that cooperation with administrations in
third countries be stepped up and information be shared that will lead to the successful countering of
organised crime which operates across international borders worldwide,

M. whereas a longer-term joint strategy is therefore required, embodying not only objectives but also

deadlines, and setting priorities,

N. whereas the objectives set in such an action plan cannot be based on wishful thinking, but must be

feasible,

O.

convinced that some politically highly contentious matters also need to be tackled promptly, as delays
will not increase the chances of improvement,

P. whereas new technology has made it easier for organised crime to gain a hold on society by providing
it with a new means of doing so; whereas, therefore, ever-greater attention will need to be paid to the
improper use of information technology and illegal use of the Internet,

Q. whereas serious paedophile offences are being committed on and around the Internet,

Failure to consult Parliament on strategic papers

1.
Confirms the need to combat organised crime at Union level whilst ensuring that fundamental free-
doms, the rights of the individual and procedural guarantees are upheld, in particular the rights of the
defence and respect for privacy;

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 new
millennium, thus ensuring joint action;

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Points out, however, that the Treaty of Maastricht provided for obligatory consultation of Parliament

3.
‘on the principal aspects of activities’ in the areas of justice and home affairs;

Points out that one of the aims of the Treaty of Amsterdam was to remedy the lack of democratic
4.
legitimation of EU legal acts, so that any reduction of Parliament’s rights would run counter to the spirit of
that Treaty;

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 consultation
of Parliament as unnecessary;

Calls on the Council in future to consult Parliament on all strategic papers, which entails not simply

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awaiting Parliament’s opinion, but taking it into account and giving it proper consideration;

Substance of the action plan

Notes that the priority given to individual recommendations in the action plan does not always

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reflect the urgency of the objectives, but often their practicability;

Emphasises that maximum priority should be given to measures designed to achieve major objectives
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such as the tracing, freezing, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds of crime and the recycling of money
or other benefits derived from illegal activities, since illegal accumulation is the aim pursued by criminal
organisations, whose strength lies precisely in their having huge financial and economic resources at their
disposal;

9.
Fears that the fact that the action plan is supposed to be based on a scale of priorities from 1 to 5,
but that no items are given priority 5 and only one receives priority 4, might call into question the ser-
iousness of the work undertaken;

10.

Calls on the Council, therefore, to review the priorities set in their entirety;

Council Presidency conclusions on crime prevention

11. Welcomes the decision of the Portuguese Council Presidency to emphasise the urgency and impor-
tance of this subject by organising a high-level conference on crime prevention;

12.
Calls on the Council to implement the mutual-evaluation scheme and to notify the European Parlia-
ment, the national parliaments and the general public of the results achieved, with a view to ensuring
greater transparency in the actions undertaken by the Member States in order to combat organised crime;

Congratulates the Council Presidency on the drawing-up of the conclusions on crime prevention at
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this conference, conclusions which incorporate some of the matters called for by Parliament’s Committee
on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs;

14.

Requests the Council also to take the following points into account:

  the Member States and the Commission should be urged, in the course of their legislative work, to
seek to make crime more difficult to commit and a greater risk to the perpetrator and to eliminate the
benefits criminals may gain from their actions;

  all sections of society must be mobilised to reduce the demand for illegal goods and services, which

would also reduce the crime rate;

  industry and the authorities must be encouraged to introduce technical preventive measures; the Com-
mission should consider the degree to which criminals might be deterred by the judicious use of
technical aids such as electronic vehicle immobilisers, special security standards for credit cards etc.;

  the Commission and Council should submit to Parliament a proposal for a legal act to ensure that all
legal decision-making processes at national and EU level can be assessed in terms of their impact on
crime;

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  amongst the various crime prevention measures, particular emphasis should be placed on introducing
policies designed to improve difficult living conditions and to reduce social marginalisation since
these, within the EU strategy, are identified as factors which generate crime;

  in order to prevent any increase in drug dependency and, therefore, to ensure more effective preven-
tion of all related crimes (particularly crime against property), emphasis should be placed on introdu-
cing proper damage-reduction policies;

  the Council and Commission should undertake to combat crime committed via the Internet, with
particular attention being paid to sites which contain acts of violence against children and propagate
paedophile material;

15.
Hopes that the conclusions will lead to a specific action programme laying down detailed responsi-
bilities and deadlines for crime prevention, especially as Chapter 2.3 of the Action Plan on organised
crime, devoted to stepping up prevention, contains many valuable insights on prevention which have not
been matched by recommendations;

Calls on the Council to keep Parliament informed of further work on crime prevention, and to

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consult Parliament before any strategic papers on this subject are adopted;

17.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.

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