Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on:the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the prevention of crime in the European Union — Reflection on common guidelines and proposals for Community financial support, andthe Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a programme of incentives and exchanges, training and cooperation for the prevention of crime (Hippocrates)
Date: 2001-05-30
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU aid, EU programme, fight against crime, financial aid, public awareness campaign, social policy

7.8.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 221/103

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on:

— the ‘Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on
the prevention of crime in the European Union — Reflection on common guidelines and
proposals for Community financial support’, and

— the ‘Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a programme of incentives and exchanges,

training and cooperation for the prevention of crime (Hippocrates)’

(2001/C 221/17)

On 29 November 2000, the European Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social
Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-
mentioned communication and the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 2 May 2001. The rapporteur was Mr Burnel.

At its 382nd plenary session on 30 and 31 May 2001 (meeting of 30 May), the Economic and Social
Committee adopted the following opinion with 111 votes for and one abstention.

I.

INTRODUCTION

1.
Crime is a growing problem both in the European Union
and across the world, especially since it is a scourge which can
cross borders easily and fast. Some geographical areas in
particular provide a favourable climate for its development
and proliferation.

6.
Enlargement will increase the length of the EU’s land and
maritime boundaries. It is therefore to be hoped that the
applicant countries will be informed about and involved in
Community concerns and actions.

The EU must consult and cooperate with the Council of
Europe and the United Nations, particularly in the fight against
organised crime, which makes proficient use of the latest
technologies in the fields of communication, drug manufacture
and espionage.

For this reason, both individual states and the European
2.
institutions have a pressing obligation to deal with crime at its
roots and in all its forms. To simply say that crime is a social
problem would be neither an explanation nor an excuse.

II. COMMENTS

3.
The ESC has been asked to give an opinion on the
Communication from the Commission to the Council and the
European Parliament on the prevention of crime in the
European Union — Reflection on common guidelines and
proposals for Community financial support.

1.
The Commission has adopted a broad definition of
crime, which transcends the acts defined as crimes under
national law in the Member States.

4.
Prevention is only the first step in the comprehensive
policy and measures required to combat crime. The Com-
mittee’s response is therefore framed in broader — although
by no means exhaustive — terms. The Committee has already
expressed its views on this issue elsewhere, for example in
relation to the various forms of criminal exploitation of
children, women and immigrants in particular, and of vulner-
able and at risk groups and individuals in general.

the top of

If we place crime at

1.1.
the pyramid of
malfeasance, we must acknowledge that it is supported by a
number of different strata which increase proportionately in
severity from apparently banal acts of anti-social conduct right
up to mafia activity and organised crime, via all the various
levels of individual and collective delinquency.

1.2.
The Committee considers that the Commission’s broad
definition is justified since, by a simple ‘snowball’ effect, any
offence which is not dealt with at its root may lead to more
serious offences.

5.
First and foremost, the Committee calls on decision-
makers, particularly those in the political sphere, to clarify
their approach to safeguarding and promoting the values
connected with respect for human rights and defining the
measures and resources their enactment requires.

2.
The objectives of the fight against crime are to ensure
the safety of physical and moral persons, safeguard private and
public property, both individual and collective, and restore the
rights of victims.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

7.8.2001

3.

This strategy comprises four, interrelated approaches:

3.1.

prevention;

police action and judicial sanctions, exercised in

3.2.
accordance with the law;

3.3.

compensation and victim support;

social rehabilitation of offenders during their sentences

3.4.
and on release;

The Commission has opportunely decided to name the
4.
programme ‘Hippocrates’ after the founder of preventive
medicine, whose motto was ‘prevention is better than cure’ —
a logical principle that ought to be applied to all situations of
injustice.

4.1.

The two main objectives of the programme are to:

— alert the public; and

— encourage the public to contribute to the success of
public policies on safeguarding persons and public and
private property.

4.3.
As the institutional forum for civil society organis-
ations, the Economic and Social Committee is, by definition,
concerned with the quality of life and therefore with all the
problems resulting from the deprivation of fundamental rights:
i.e. the rights to safety, dignity, work, health and social
protection, education and training, and family life.

4.4.
However, all too often the resources allocated to crime
prevention and suppression are outpaced by the rising volume,
gravity and sophistication of crime itself. This, in any case, is
the prevailing perception in public opinion.

4.4.1.
The public authorities therefore need to conduct a
large-scale education programme targeted at the general public
and the media.

4.4.2.
The resources at the disposal of Europol (i.e. EUR
35 million in 2001, an increase of 29 % over 2000) are far
from adequate. A similar critique could be levelled against the
situation in the Member States, for example with relation to
the resources allocated for combating cross-border crime (land
and maritime borders). Crime is a scourge which crosses
borders increasingly easily and fast; the longer the delay in
addressing it, the more powerful its effects will be.

4.2.
If this appeal for the participation of the general public
and political, economic, social and cultural decision-makers is
to succeed, two key conditions must be met:

Although the watchword ought to be cooperation,
4.4.3.
excluding any form of competition, it would appear that the
rivalry between different law enforcement agencies is no longer
confined to the world of fiction.

first,

the general public must

4.2.1.
the
participation requested of them is feasible — in other words
realistic — and will produce quantifiable results. Crime
prevention is not a matter for specialists alone, no matter how
indispensable they are. It is at the heart of good citizenship;

that

that

feel

second, the crime prevention policy must be compre-
4.2.2.
hensive. In other words, it must tackle all the causes of crime,
both its deep roots and their surface manifestations, and
mobilise society as a whole. In this sense, policies on urban
planning, poverty reduction, unemployment and exclusion,
education, welfare, and information, all play a part in crime
prevention. To take one example, combating poverty means
tackling its causes and effects, not pointing the finger at poor
individuals and families as responsible for their situation.
Nobody chooses to live in poverty.

4.2.3.
Particular attention must be given to education, in
the sense of teaching people how to master thought and
communication through the practice of different forms of
language (speaking, reading, writing and arithmetic) and
instilling self-discipline through moral and civic education.
Hence the necessity to train teachers to relate to the whole
community, both pupils and parents, and to make schools a
focus for educational and community initiatives. The street is
rarely a good school.

4.4.4.
Some protracted and complex judicial procedures
also contribute to the public’s impression that certain cases go
unpunished, whereas what is really at issue is the patent lack
or inappropriateness of resources. The rights of offenders have
to be guaranteed. But so, equally, do the rights of victims.

The public sometimes almost feels that law-abiding
4.4.5.
citizens are forgotten whilst the agencies responsible for their
protection are out of their depth.

5.

The Commission:

in pursuit of the Action Plan adopted by the Amster-
5.1.
dam European Council in June 1997, calls for ‘a mechanism
for the collection and analysis of data which is so construed
that it can provide a picture of the organised crime situation
in the Member State and which can assist law enforcement
authorities in fighting organised crime’ to be set up on the
basis of common standards.

Europol and the Member States followed this up when drawing
up the annual report on the situation of organised crime in the
European Union.

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As regards general crime,

5.2.
the current absence of
reliable data sometimes makes it difficult to compare the
situation in different countries. The Council of Europe is
working on the matter, as is the United Nations, in particular
regarding data on general crime.

The Committee supports these initiatives, aimed at
5.3.
building up a shared, reliable and detailed picture of crime,
monitoring its development and accurately assessing the
impact of the measures already applied.

The Commission calls for the mobilisation and net-

6.
working of those involved in crime prevention.

6.1.
It supports the initiative taken by the French presidency
and Sweden proposing ‘the creation of a European network of
prevention focusing on urban, juvenile and drug-related crime’.

6.2.
Initiatives have been taken by industry and certain
professions particularly exposed to the risks of corruption or
implication in money-laundering and fraud operations.

6.3.
The Commission proposes that a European Forum for
the prevention of organised crime be established, covering an
extremely wide range of fields, such as lawful and unlawful
dealings in goods, cybercrime, corruption, and financial and
environmental crime. A forum of this kind would have to be
able to respond flexibly to requirements, but its primary aim
would be to structure prevention work at European level by:

— being available to the European institutions and the
Member States to assist them on all questions related to
crime prevention;

— helping to identify new crime trends;

— facilitating the exchange of information on preventive

action;

— contributing to the operation of expertise centres; and

— helping to identify areas for research,

training and

evaluation.

The Commission wishes to design the Forum in such as way
that it can be managed by a lightweight structure that can be
supplied by its own departments.

Brussels, 30 May 2001.

It will examine with the partners concerned the need to set up
a web site on prevention.

The Committee endorses this.

7.
The Tampere European Council suggested that consider-
ation should be given to EU financial support for the crime
prevention strategy. The Commission has come to the con-
clusion that a financial instrument would add value to the
action of the Member States, as it announced at Praia da
Falésia.

instrument will comprise two aspects, one
The financial
devoted to cross-border organised crime and the other to
general crime.

The financial instrument would be regarded as a pilot oper-
ation, and would be established by decision under Article 34
of the Treaty on European Union for an initial two-year period
(2001/2002). The Commission states that ‘with regard to
financial amounts, there should be a cautious start. An annual
budget of EUR 1 million appears reasonable, pending the
Commission’s general proposals on the programmes that it
manages’.

8.
The Committee takes note of these decisions. In view of
the scale of the problems to be addressed it wishes every
possible resource to be committed. The public is extremely
concerned and expects strong and concerted action to be
taken.

The Committee stresses the need to involve the public
8.1.
through bodies such as organisations, unions and associations
in which they place their trust and to which they are willing to
contribute.

The Committee emphasises the role of the family,

8.2.
teachers, social workers and the media.

8.3.
Given that the objective is actively to integrate people
into society — one of the strong points of democracy —
simply applying a restorative social medicine is not enough.
The goal of integration must be mainstreamed in all policies
— housing, urban development, employment, training, welfare
and health protection, information and culture — in such a
way that it is visible to the public at large.

This will be the best form of prevention, although it will not
remove the need for vigilance on the part of the police and
judicial systems, which uphold the law.

‘Any Society which aspires to guarantee liberty, must start by
guaranteeing safety.’

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS