REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL AND THE COUNCIL Sixth progress report towards an effective and genuine Security Union
Date: 2017-04-12
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: European security, area of freedom, security and justice, arms trade, cross-border cooperation, external border of the EU, extremism, fight against crime, firearms and munitions, organised crime, terrorism

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 12.4.2017  COM(2017) 213 final   REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL AND THE COUNCIL Sixth progress report towards an effective and genuine Security Union  
 
 
INTRODUCTION 

I. 
This  is  the  6th  monthly  report  on  the  progress  made  towards  building  an  effective  and 
genuine  Security  Union  and  covers  developments  under  two  main  pillars:  tackling 
terrorism,  organised  crime  and  cybercrime  and  the  means  that  support  them;  and 
strengthening our defences and building resilience against those threats.  

On  7  April  Stockholm  became  the  latest  victim  of  a  terrorist  attack  when  a  truck  was 
hijacked  and  driven  deliberately  through  a  busy  pedestrian  shopping  street  before 
crashing into a department store killing four people and injuring fifteen. This attack came 
less than three weeks after the 22 March attack on London and its Houses of Parliament 
where a vehicle and a knife were used to create carnage in a busy and symbolic location. 
The low-tech nature of both attacks, similar to those perpetrated in Nice and Berlin last 
year,  once  again  highlights  the  challenge  posed  for  Member  States'  authorities  in 
countering such threats and also the importance of the ongoing work under the Security 
Union on soft target protection1.  

This report provides an update on progress made on key Security Union legislative and 
non-legislative  files.  It  also  includes  a  particular  focus  on  combating  serious  and 
organised crime – one of the three core areas of the 2015 European Agenda on Security2. 
In  the  context  of  the  work  being  done  on  the  new  EU  Policy  Cycle  for  serious 
international and organised crime for the years 2018 to 2021, this report sets out what in 
the  Commission's  view  should  be  the  future  EU  priorities  on  combating  serious  crime 
and organised crime.  

Organised crime is a key enabler of terrorism, helping terrorists to acquire weapons and 
financial means. Increasingly, the border between cybercrime and "traditional" crime is 
also  disappearing  as  criminals  harness  the  Internet  both  as  a  way  of  scaling  up  their 
activities  and  as  a  source  of  procuring  means  and  finding  new  methods  of  committing 
crime.  Terrorism,  organised  crime  and  cybercrime  are  thus  interlinked  areas,  and 
supporting the fight against organised crime is a key priority for action at EU level under 
the Security Union. 

II.  

1.  

IMPLEMENTATION OF PRIORITY FILES ON SECURITY 

Legislative initiatives 

The  Directive  (EU)  2017/541  on  combating  terrorism  was  published  in  the  Official 
Journal on 31 March.3 The new rules will help prevent terrorist attacks by criminalising 
acts  such  as  the  financing  of  terrorism,  undertaking  training  or  travelling  for  terrorist 
purposes, as well as organising or facilitating such travel. They also strengthen the rights 
of the victims of terrorism, and include a catalogue of services to meet the specific needs 
of victims of terrorism. Member States must transpose the new rules into national law by 
8 September 2018.  

The European Parliament voted in plenary on 14 March 2017 to approve the revision of 
the  Firearms  Directive4.  The  proposal  significantly  broadens  the  range  of  prohibited 
weapons (Category A) taking the most dangerous weapons out of civilian hands. It also 
brings  acoustic  and  deactivated  weapons  under  the  scope  of  the  directive  as  well  as 

1   COM (2017) 41 final. 
2   COM (2015) 185 final. 
3   OJ L 88 of 31/3/2017, p. 6. 
4   COM (2015) 750 final. 

2 

 
 
 
                                                 
enhances  weapons'  traceability  through  reinforced  marking  rules  and  information 
exchange amongst Member States. The Council is expected to give its final agreement on 
25  April.  The  Member  States  will  have  15  months  to  transpose  the  new  rules  into 
national  law  and  30  months  to  put  in  place  data-filling  systems  for  registering  all 
information needed in order to trace and identify firearms. 

Trilogue discussions between the co-legislators were launched on 21 March 2017 on the 
Commission's  proposal  for  targeted  amendments  to  the  4th  Anti  Money  Laundering 
Directive5,  proposed  by  the  Commission  on  5  July  2016.  The  proposal  is  designed  to 
cover new means of terrorist financing such as virtual currencies and pre-paid cards and 
to increase transparency to help to combat money laundering. The Commission calls on 
the  co-legislators  to  finalise  negotiations  as  quickly  as  possible  on  this  important 
proposal, which will help further reduce the means available to terrorists.  

In  terms  of  strengthening  controls  at  borders,  on  7  April,  the  amendments  of  the 
Schengen Borders Code related to systematic checks at external borders, including for 
EU citizens6, entered into force. This important legislation will increase security within 
Schengen without disrupting the flow of traffic. In some defined circumstances and based 
on  a  prior  risk  assessment  to  ensure  that  this  does  not  lead  to  a  security  risk,  Member 
States  in  situations  where  there  is  a  disproportionate  impact  on  the  flow  of  traffic  at 
specific land and sea borders can, by way of time limited derogation, decide to carry out 
targeted checks on EU citizens against databases at these borders. Risk assessments must 
be shared with the European Border and Coast Guard. With regard to initiatives related to 
border management, trilogue discussions between the co-legislators were launched on 23 
March on the Commission's proposals to establish an EU Entry/Exit System to improve 
border  management,  combat  irregular  migration  and  strengthen  internal  security  by 
recording  the  movements  of  third  country  nationals  across  the  Schengen  area  external 
borders7.  The  Commission  calls  on  the  co-legislators  to  make  rapid  progress  to  allow 
development  work  on  the  system  starting  this  year  thereby  ensuring  that  it  will  be 
operational by early 2020. Technical discussions by each co-legislator are advancing well 
on  the  European  Travel  Information  and  Authorisation  System  (ETIAS)8.  The 
Commission  will  continue  actively  to  support  the  co-legislators  and  drive  this  forward. 
The proposal for the EU Entry/Exit System and ETIAS are legislative priorities under the 
Joint  Declaration9  of  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Commission.  The 
Institutions  therefore  agreed  to  give  priority  treatment  to  these  files  in  the  legislative 
process to ensure their swift delivery. 

Regarding  the  implementation  of  recently  adopted  legislative  files,  the  Commission  is 
continuing to support Member States in the swift implementation of the  EU Passenger 
Name Record (PNR) Directive.10 On 8 March, the Commission held a fourth meeting on 
the implementation of the PNR Directive, which showed that several Member States are 
now in  the process of adopting  legislation or  amending legislation in  place  prior to the 
adoption  of  the  PNR  Directive.  The  Commission  will  continue  to  monitor  and  support 
implementation. 

2.  

Implementation of non-legislative actions 

5   COM(2016) 450 final, 5.7.2016. 
6   COM(2015) 670 final, 5.12.2015.   
7   COM(2016) 194 final, 6.4.2016, COM(2016) 196 final, 6.4.2016. 
8   COM(2016) 731 final, 16.11.2016. 
9   https://ec.europa.eu/commission/publications/joint-declaration-eus-legislative-priorities-2017_en 
10   OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 132. 

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The  final  meeting  of  the  High  Level  Expert  Group  on  Information  Systems  and 
Interoperability (HLEG) is scheduled for 25 April. As part of the process of concluding 
the  work  of  the  group,  the  subgroup  on  existing  systems  met  in  March  to  examine 
customs systems (use of / access to law enforcement information) and law enforcement 
access for SIS, VIS and Eurodac. 

In March, the Commission led an EU delegation including the current and future Council 
Presidencies,  the  EU  Counter  Terrorism  Coordinator,  the  Head  of  the  Europol  Internet 
Referral  Unit  and  the  Director  of  the  Radicalisation  Awareness  Network  Centre  of 
Excellence,  to  the  United  States  for  meetings  with  the  major  social  media  and  internet 
companies to further the voluntary partnership with the EU and ensure follow-up to the 
initiatives agreed at the December 2016 EU Internet Forum. As previously reported, the 
EU  Internet  Forum  set  up  in  December  2015  forms  a  key  part  of  the  Commission's 
response to the increased abuse of the internet by terrorist organisations. 

A key deliverable was the presentation of the working prototype of the joint databases of 
hashes  established  by  the  internet  companies,  which  allows  companies  to  mark  known 
terrorist content, to identify similar content, assess this content against their own policies 
and  rapidly  remove  it  irreversibly.  The  companies  are  now  focusing  on  testing  and 
enhancing scalability as well as identifying new, particularly smaller, companies that can 
be brought into the consortium, so as to maximise the impact and reach of the tool. The 
EU  side  also  highlighted  the  importance  of  the  companies  adopting  a  more  proactive 
response through automatic detection of abusive content.  

As  part  of  the  Commission's  efforts  to  counter  online  radicalisation,  a  further  EUR  10 
million  has  been  earmarked  to  support  counter  narrative  campaigns  online  through  the 
Civil Society Empowerment Programme, a key initiative under the EU Internet Forum. 
The programme was launched on 15-16 March bringing together 100 stakeholders. 

The Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) and its Centre of Excellence foster the 
exchange  of  expertise  and  best  practice  among  front  line  practitioners  working  on 
prevention  and  anti-radicalisation.  The  RAN  Centre  of  Excellence  provides  support  to 
Member States, e.g. in designing prevention strategies and de-radicalisation programmes 
in prisons. As announced in the 2016 Communication on Radicalisation11, in early 2017 
the  Commission  launched  the  Network  of  Prevent  Policy  Makers  pursuing  two  main 
objectives:  (i)  strengthening  and  institutionalising  the  exchange  of  expertise  and 
experience  on  prevent  approaches  and  prevention  policies  in  Member  States;  and  (ii) 
involving  Member  States  more  closely  in  RAN  activities,  by  ensuring  broader 
dissemination of RAN findings in a given Member State, ensuring optimal participation 
of  national,  regional  or  local  experts  at  RAN  events  and  identifying  needs  in  Member 
States  for  RAN  training,  workshops  and,  counselling.  The  first  meeting  took  place  on 
2 February 2017 and future meetings (on a quarterly basis) will focus on priority themes 
such as returnees, de-radicalisation and polarisation. 

To help improve cross-border  law enforcement  cooperation, the Commission organised 
on 27 March a workshop dedicated to the practice of "cross-border hot pursuits". These 
are pursuits (typically by car) of suspects, which start in the internal border areas by law 
enforcement  officers  of  one  Member  State  and  continue  into  the  territory  of  a 
neighbouring  Member  State.  This  first  workshop  allowed  a  constructive  discussion  on 

11 COM(2016) 379 final, 4.6.2016. 

4 

 
 
                                                 
the  practical  implementation  of  hot  pursuit,  and  on  avenues  to  facilitate  this  sensitive 
form of cross-border police cooperation.  

As  regards  aviation  security,  work  has  advanced  on  the  risk  assessment  on  threat  and 
vulnerability regarding  flights coming into the EU from third countries following work 
launched  in  January  to  develop  a  risk  matrix  combining  threat  assessment  and  detailed 
elements  of  vulnerability.  This  will  pave  the  way  for  prioritisation  and  coordination  of 
external  capacity-building  efforts  in  vulnerable  third  countries.  While  the  EU  has 
developed  a  robust  aviation  security  framework,  it  is  important  to  speed  up  the  above 
mentioned processes to close potential security loopholes. The ban on certain electronic 
devices recently issued by the United States and the United Kingdom underlines the need 
to foster closer cooperation among Member States, while respecting their right to decide 
on  the  introduction  of  additional  security  measures  on  flights  from  third  countries.  To 
enhance such coordination, the Commission organised a classified expert meeting on 31 
March with Member States, Australia, Canada and the United States.  

III.  EU  PRIORITIES  ON  COMBATING  SERIOUS  AND  ORGANISED 

CRIME – THE NEW EU POLICY CYCLE  

The  objective  of  the  so-called  EU  Policy  Cycle  is  to  ensure  effective  cooperation 
between  Member  States’  law  enforcement  agencies,  EU  Institutions  and  EU  Agencies 
that  should  lead  to  coherent  and  robust  operational  action  targeting  the  most  pressing 
criminal  threats  facing  the  EU.  It  is  an  evidence-based  process  and  begins  with  the 
presentation by Europol of the Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (EU 
SOCTA), which delivers a set of recommendations of the main crime threats facing the 
EU.  The  EU  SOCTA  report  is  the  basis  for  the  discussion  between  Member  States  on 
priorities  tackling  the  crime  threats  at  EU  level.  The  priorities  are  then  adopted  by  the 
Justice  and  Home  Affairs  Council  and  are  then  reflected  in  cross-border  operational 
activities  at  Member  State  level,  notably  through  joint  actions  between  Member  States 
and  EU  Agencies  with  the  support  of  the  European  Multidisciplinary  Platform  Against 
Criminal Threat.12 The Commission has provided and will continue to provide financial 
support for the implementation of the EU Policy Cycle and has allocated EUR 4 million 
for 2017 in addition to the EUR 9 million funding in 2015 and 2016. 

Overall,  the  current  EU  Policy  Cycle  (2013-2017)  has  been  successfully  implemented. 
An  independent  evaluation13  contracted  by  the  Commission  concluded  that  it  had 
achieved its main objective of improving cooperation between Member States in the fight 
against serious and organised crime.14 The EU Policy Cycle has led to an improvement in 
the  exchange  of  information,  sharing  of  good  practices  and  the  launch  of  many  joint 
investigations  and  operations  by  the  Member  States.  It  has  also  contributed  to  building 
relations and trust, including with third countries.  

The new Policy Cycle was launched by the presentation by Europol on 9 March 2017 of 
the EU SOCTA 2017 report.15 The report explores potential links between serious and 

12   https://www.europol.europa.eu/crime-areas-and-trends/eu-policy-cycle-empact 
13   Evaluation  Study  on  the  EU  Policy  Cycle  for  serious  international  and  organised  crime  2013-2017, 

Final report, 30.1.2017. 

14   The current EU Policy Cycle has 9 priorities: facilitation of illegal immigration, trafficking in human 
being,  counterfeit  goods,  excise  and  VAT  fraud,  cocaine  and  heroin,  synthetic  drugs,  illicit  firearms 
trafficking, organised property crime and cybercrime. 

15   https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/european-union-serious-and-organised-

crime-threat-assessment-2017  

5 

 
 
 
                                                 
organised crime and terrorism, namely that organised crime can feed terrorism through 
activity such as the trafficking of firearms and the production of false documentation or 
proceeds from drug smuggling. This was the approach proposed in the European Agenda 
on  Security16  followed  in  the  Communication  delivering  on  the  European  Agenda  on 
Security  to  fight  against  terrorism  and  pave  the  way  towards  an  effective  and  genuine 
Security Union.17  

The  EU  SOCTA  2017  recommends  focusing  on  five  priority  crime 
threats: 
(1) cybercrime,  (2)  drug  production,  trafficking  and  distribution,  (3)  migrant 
smuggling,  (4)  organised  burglaries  and  theft  (organised  property  crime),  and 
(5) trafficking  in  human  beings.  It  also  recommends  addressing  three  cross-cutting 
issues  that  enable  or  enhance  all  types  of  serious  and  organised  crime:  (a)  document 
fraud,  (b)  criminal  finance  including  money  laundering,  and  (c)  online  trade  in  illicit 
goods and services.  

Based  on  the  EU  SOCTA  2017,  the  Commission  and  the  Council  Presidency  are 
preparing their suggestions for the crime tackling priorities of the new EU Policy Cycle 
for  the  years  2018  to  2021,  to  be  discussed  in  the  Standing  Committee  on  operational 
cooperation  on  internal  security,  to  be  endorsed  at  the  June  2017  Justice  and  Home 
Affairs Council.  

In  view  of  setting  the  future  EU  priorities  on  combating  serious  crime  and  organised 
crime, the Commission supports the five priority crime threats identified by Europol (see 
sections  1  to  5  below).  In  addition  to  that,  the  Commission  considers  that  particular 
attention  and  financial  resources  should  also  be  dedicated  at  EU  level  to  tackling  the 
following  three  crime  threats:  (6)  firearms  trafficking,  (7)  VAT  fraud  and 
(8) environmental crime. These three areas should also be priority crime threats under 
the new EU Policy Cycle (see sections 6 to 8 below). 

A  key  issue  highlighted  in  the  EU  SOCTA  2017  is  the  use  of  new  technologies  by 
criminals. For almost all types of organised crime, criminals are deploying and adapting 
technology with ever-greater skill and to ever-greater effect. There is much greater use of 
the  internet  for  all  types  of  illicit  trade  in  goods  and  services.  This  requires  law 
enforcement  authorities  to  be  equipped  with  adequate  tools  to  fight  this  type  of  online 
criminality  and  to  train  and  learn  together.  The  European  Union  Agency  for  Law 
Enforcement Training has a crucial role to play in providing appropriate training, in line 
with policy priorities and identified threats, to front-line law enforcement officers.  

There is also an important external dimension of serious and organised crime. The EU 
SOCTA 2017 highlights that individuals from over 180 different nationalities – residing 
inside or outside the EU – are involved in organised crime activity inside the EU. 40% of 
suspects  are  not  citizens  of  Member  States.  The  key  trafficking  routes  for  organised 
crime  threats  originate  from  outside  the  EU.  Action  is  underway  to  address  organised 
crime threats externally.18 It is important to continue ensuring the linkages between EU 
internal security and external action when addressing serious and organised crime threats, 
including through Europol's cooperation with third countries. 

16   COM(2015) 185 final, 28.4.2015. 
17   COM(2016) 230 final, 20.4.2016. 
18   This  includes  EU  funded  projects  (for  example  in  the  Western  Balkans  and  the  Sahel  region), 
Common  Security  and  Defence  Policy  missions  (such  as  EUNAVFOR  Med  Operation  Sophia, 
explicitly  conceived  to  also  disrupt  the  business  model  of  smugglers)  and  the  border  management 
missions in third countries. 

6 

 
 
                                                 
Cybercrime 

1. 
Cyber-attacks  are  increasing  in  terms  of  intensity,  volume  and  quality.19  By  its  very 
nature, cybercrime is international: victims, criminals and  evidence are often located in 
different countries, under several jurisdictions. Member States have shown keen interest 
in the cyber-crime priority as demonstrated by the number of operational action plans20 
set  up  in  the  areas  of  cyber-attacks,  online  child  sexual  exploitation  and  payment  card 
fraud.  At  EU  level,  the  European  Cybercrime  Centre  at  Europol  (EC3)  has  made  a 
significant  contribution to the fight against cybercrime.21 Eurojust, through secondment 
of an expert and membership of the programme board, works closely with EC3. EC3 also 
hosts  the  Joint  Cybercrime  Action  Taskforce.  Its  mission  is  to  drive  intelligence-led, 
coordinated  action  against  key  cybercrime  threats  through  cross-border  investigations 
and operations by its partners.22  

Further  steps  include  exploring  possible  solutions  to  remove  obstacles  to  criminal 
investigations  against  cybercrime,  by  identifying  specific  initiatives  on  access  to 
evidence and information.23 Cooperation to fight cybercrime must maintain its focus on 
identification and protection of victims building on the current victims' rights set out in 
EU law24 and current best practice25. Cooperation against online child sexual exploitation 
must  continue  and  be  further  strengthened.  26  Concerning  payment  card  fraud,  it  is 
necessary to widen existing law enforcement cooperation to a broader range of criminal 
activities which target non-cash means of payments. As announced in the Action Plan on 
strengthening the fight against terrorism financing the Commission is preparing to update 
the 2001 Framework Decision combating fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of 
payment.27 

2. 

Drug production, trafficking and distribution 

The illicit drugs market remains the largest criminal market in the EU. EU SOCTA 2017 
shows that more than one third of the criminal groups active in the EU are involved in the 
production,  trafficking  or  distribution  of  various  types  of  drugs.  The  EU  retail  drug 
market  is  estimated  to  be  worth  at  least  EUR  24  billion  a  year.  Drug  trafficking  also 

19   See the Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) 2016: 

https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/internet-organised-crime-threat-
assessment-iocta-2016 

20    Operational  Action  Plans  (OAP)  are  designed  for  each  of  the  EMPACT  priorities,  to  coordinate 
actions  by  MS  and  EU  organisations  against  the  identified  threats.  On  cybercrime,  114  operational 
action plans were launched in 2015 and 2016. 

21   Since it was established, EC3 has been involved in tens of high-profile operations and over 200 on-the-
spot operational-support deployments resulting in hundreds of arrests, and has analysed over 800,000 
files, the vast majority of which have proven to be malicious. 

22   https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/services-support/joint-cybercrime-action-taskforce 
23   Council Conclusions of 9 June 2016 on improving criminal justice in cyberspace. 
24   In  particular,  Directive  2012/29/EU  establishing  minimum  standards  on  the  rights,  support  and 
protection  of  victims  of  crime,  OJ  L  315,  14.11.2012,  p.  57–73;  and  Directive  2011/92/EU  on 
combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child  pornography,  OJ  L  335, 
17.12.2011, p. 1–14. 

25   For  example,  the  NoMoreRansom  project  -  https://www.nomoreransom.org/,  led  by  Europol  and 
involving law enforcement agencies and private organisations to help victims of malware encrypting 
their  data  (ransomware);  it  provides  victims  with  the  necessary  tools  to  decrypt  their  software  and 
recuperate information.   

26   See the Commission’s implementation report on Directive 2011/92/EU on combating the sexual abuse 

and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, COM(2016) 872 final, 16.12.2016. 

27   OJ L 149, 2.6.2001, p. 1–4. 

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supports  the  informal  economy  and  spills  over  into  violence  and  other  illegal  activities 
and causes major social problems. 

The EU acts against drug trafficking under the EU Drugs Strategy 2013-2020, covering 
both the reduction of the supply and demand for drugs. The Commission proposed on 15 
March a draft new EU Drug Action Plan for the period 2017-2020. To enable the EU to 
act  more  swiftly  and  more  effectively  on  new  psychoactive  substances,  the  Council 
agreed in December 2016 on a general approach for a new legislative package to address 
new  psychoactive  substances  and  to  bring  harmful  substances  under  control  at  EU 
level28. Discussions between the co-legislators were launched on 1 March. 

3. 

Migrant smuggling 

Migrant  smuggling  to  the  EU  today  is  one  of  the  fastest  growing  forms  of  organised 
crime.29 Migrant smuggling not only fuels irregular migration to the EU – thus affecting 
border  security  and undermining  migration management  –  but  also represents a serious 
form of crime, which increasingly exposes migrants to violence, exploitation and loss of 
life.  The  European  Agenda  on  Migration30  and  the  EU  Action  Plan  against  Migrant 
smuggling31 identified the  need  to  prioritise better  prevention and  fight against  migrant 
smuggling, including reducing irregular migration and loss of life in the Mediterranean. 
The  increased  support  to  Europol, including  the  establishment  of  a  dedicated  European 
Migrant  Smuggling  Centre,  is  designed  to  help  address  these  challenges.  The  one  year 
activity report illustrates the comprehensive support it provides to  European  police and 
border  control  authorities  in  coordinating  highly  complex  cross-border  anti-smuggling 
operations.32  Eurojust  has  also  designated  judicial  contact  points  at  the  Hotspots  in 
Greece and Italy to channel relevant information and cases to Eurojust’s National Desks 
for  judicial  follow-up  and  coordination  at  EU  level.  The  migrant  smuggling  is  also  an 
important  action  along  the  Central  Mediterranean  route  proposed  in  the  Joint 
Communication on 25 January 2017.33  

4. 

Organised property crime  

Organised property crime encompasses a range of different criminal activities carried out 
by  highly  specialised  mobile  organised  crime  groups  operating  across  the  EU,  in 
particular through  organised  burglaries, thefts and  robberies  and  motor vehicle  crime.34 
However, it remains under-investigated since individual incidents are often classified as 
petty  criminality.  The  increase  in  domestic  burglaries  attributable  to  itinerant  crime 
groups originating mainly from South-Eastern and Eastern Europe is a major concern for 
law enforcement. To counter this highly mobile form of criminality, cooperation between 

28   COM(2016) 547 final, 29.8.2016. 
29   Europol estimates that at least 90% of all migrants and asylum seekers who reach the EU irregularly 
have used smugglers services to do so. In 2015, migrant smuggling networks offering facilitation 
services to reach or move within the EU generated an estimated EUR 4.7 billion to EUR 5.7 billion in 
profit. 

30   COM(2015) 240 final, 13.5.2015. 
31   COM(2015) 285 final, 27.5.2015. 
32   https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/europol%E2%80%99s-european-migrant-smuggling-

centre-one-year 

33   JOIN(2017) 4 final, 25.1.2017. 
34   The EU SOCTA 2017 reports a steady increase in the number of reported burglaries over recent years; 
estimates suggest one burglary is committed every 1.5 minutes in the EU, with some Member States 
registering 1000 burglaries every day. 

8 

 
 
                                                 
law enforcement within the EU, but also with partner countries in the neighbourhood, is a 
priority.35 

5. 

Trafficking in human beings 

Trafficking in human beings has been an EU priority threat for more than a decade and 
should remain so under the next Policy Cycle. This is one of the most serious forms of 
organised  crime  and  a  gross  violation  of  human  rights  –  but  it  is  one  of  the  most 
profitable criminal markets.  36 Traffickers also rely heavily on document fraud to enable 
their trafficking activities37.  

The  EU  has  developed  an  effective  and  comprehensive  legal  and  policy  framework 
addressing trafficking in human beings, in particular Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing 
and  combating  trafficking  in  human  beings  and  protecting  its  victims38  and  the  EU 
Strategy  towards  the  eradication  of  trafficking  in  human  beings  2012-2016.39  The 
Commission  is  currently  examining  which  actions  are  needed  for  the  post-2016  policy 
framework, building on the existing framework and based on an evaluation of its results.  

6. 

Firearms trafficking 

National  black  markets  are  the  primary  source  of  firearms  for  terrorism  and  criminals. 
This market originates from theft or diversion from legal weapons shipments and depots. 
Illegal  firearms  traded  online  on  the  Darknet  and  delivered  by  normal  post  and  parcel 
services are now the most common way of trafficking firearms in the EU. The number of 
cases related to investigations of trafficking in firearms on the Darknet is rising (2% in 
2014, around 6.5% in 2015 and 9% in 2016). 

Treating  firearms  trafficking  as  a  priority  in  the  current  EU  Policy  Cycle  has  shown 
results  with  increased  commitment  of  Member  States  (from  12  to  22  participating 
countries) and a broader involvement from customs authorities.40 There is also growing 
cooperation  with  international  partners  (Interpol,  UNODC)  and  regional  cooperation 
(notably in the Western Balkans), which has led to an average of 17 actions per year in 
the last three years.41  

35    An example of cross-border law enforcement cooperation is Operation Turnstone, carried out in May 
2015,  which  targeted  serious  cross-border  organised  property  crime  in  the  Baltic  Sea  region.  Nearly 
80 000 entities from passenger and vehicle lists of ferries operating across the Baltic Sea were checked 
both  in  the  national  and  Europol  databases,  which  triggered  325  hits  on  high-value  targets.  The 
offenders  were  arrested  after  an  intensive  surveillance  operation  which  monitored  the  suspects  from 
their initial arrival in Stockholm, by ferry from Tallinn, across more than 1000 km through Sweden to 
the city of Bodø in Norway. See Europol review 2015. 

36   Based  on  Europol’s  Report on  Trafficking  in  Human  Beings  Financial  Business  Model  of 2015,  the 
estimated  profit  globally  on  all  forms  of  THB  is  29.4  billion  euro  annually.  A  trafficker's  average 
annual  income  is  about  70  000  euro.  The  estimated  annual  profit  globally  of  THB  related  sexual 
exploitation is EUR 25.8 billion and of THB-related labour exploitation EUR 3.5 billion. 

37   In December 2016,  the  Commission  adopted  an Action  Plan  to  strengthen  the  European  response  to 
travel  document  fraud  (COM(2016)  790  final,  8.12.2016).  On  27  March,  the  Council  adopted 
Conclusions endorsing the Action Plan and calling for its swift implementation. 

38   OJ L 101, 15.4.2011, p. 1. 
39   COM(2012) 286 final, 19.6.2012. 
40   22 Member States involved (BE, BG, DK, EL ES, FI, FR, MT, NL, PT, RO, SI, SE, UK, LU, PL, HU, 
SK, AT, HR, DE and CY).  Nine institutions, agencies and networks are involved: the Commission, 
EUROPOL, CEPOL, EUROJUST, EEAS, European Firearms Expert (EFE), INTERPOL, FRONTEX, 
EU-LISA, and third parties: Switzerland, US-ATF.  

41   Ranging  from  approximation  of  national  legislation,  setting  up  of  centralised  coordination  bodies 
(“National Focal Points”) to ensure better exchanges of information and intelligence, training activities 

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To choke off the supply of weapons available to criminals and terrorists, the Commission 
believes that this priority should be maintained in the current cycle42 to compliment the 
agreement  reached  in  March  to  tighten  controls  on  legally  held  firearms  including 
extending the scope of prohibitions on the most dangerous weapons.43  

7. 

Cross-border VAT fraud  

Organised crime groups cause between EUR 40 and 60 billion of revenue losses per year 
through  cross-border  VAT  fraud  and  2%  of  those  groups  are  behind  80%  of  Missing 
Trader  Intra-Community  fraud.44  Fraud  schemes  are  highly  complex  and  difficult  to 
detect  and  therefore  require  a  coordinated  approach  by  tax  administrations  and  law 
enforcement bodies. At EU level, Eurofisc - a network of tax officials - provides a quick 
and  multilateral  exchange  of  targeted  information  to  tackle  serious  cross-border  VAT 
fraud.  It  handles  crucial  intelligence  on  fraudsters  and  new  fraud  trends.  Given  the 
financial  losses  caused  by  cross-border  VAT  fraud  organised  by  criminal  groups,  the 
Commission  considers that  it is  an  issue  that should  be included  in  the new  EU  Policy 
Cycle.45  

As announced, the Commission will present a proposal in September 2017 to move to a 
single  EU  VAT  area,  removing  the  main  weakness  of  the  system  in  order  to  reduce 
significantly cross border fraud.46 
Once set up, the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO)47 will be the key actor in 
the  fight  against  crimes  affecting  the  financial  interests  of  the  Union.  The  EPPO  will 
have the competence to investigate and prosecute such crimes across the EU, including 
serious  cross-border  VAT  frauds  involving  a  damage  of  at  least  EUR  10  million.  This 
particularly  applies  to  carrousel  fraud  and  Missing  Trader  Intra-Community  fraud 
schemes, often involving organised crime structures.48  

Environmental crime 

8. 
Environmental crime is worth USD 91 to USD 258 billion annually49 and is growing at 
2-3 times the pace of the global economy. This makes it the fourth largest crime in the 
world  after  drug  trafficking,  counterfeit  crimes  and  trafficking  in  human  beings.50  The 
EU is the origin (e.g. illegal waste trafficking) or the destination market (e.g. protected 

or joint transnational investigations and law enforcement operations (in the Western Balkan, focusing 
on gas/alarm weapons, on converted firearms, on online trade or on parcel delivery). 

42    A majority of Member States expressed their support for this priority in the current discussions for the 

preparation of the new cycle.  
43   COM(2015) 750 final, 18.11.2015. 
44   Court of Auditors' report nr 24/2015 on intra-Community VAT fraud.  
45   A significant number of Member States also supported VAT fraud as a priority in the new cycle in the 

current discussions for the preparation of the new cycle. 

46   Action  Plan  on  VAT:  Towards  a  single  EU  VAT  area  -  Time  to  decide  (COM(2016)  148  final, 

7.4.2016. 

47   On  3  April,  16  Member  States  notified  the  three  EU  institutions  of  their  intention  to  launch  an 

enhanced cooperation to establish the EPPO.  

48   The EPPO will lead to a greater number of prosecutions, convictions and a higher level of recovery of 
fraudulently  lost  Union  funds.  Its  competence  will  be  based  on  the  proposed  Directive  on  the  fight 
against  fraud  to  the  Union's  financial  interests  by  means  of  criminal  law  (PIF  Directive),  which 
establishes  minimum  rules  on  definitions  of  criminal  offences  and  sanctions  against  the  EU  budget 
(COM(2012) 363 final, 11.7.2012). The PIF Directive is expected to be adopted in June 2017. 

49   http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=27076&ArticleID=36202&l=en  
50   http://unep.org/documents/itw/environmental_crimes.pdf 

10 

 
 
                                                                                                                                                 
species,  illegal  timber),  and/or  a  hub  for  trafficking  in  transit  to  other  regions  (e.g. 
wildlife products such as ivory).51 52 

The significance of environmental crime has been recognised at EU level by the adoption 
of  the  Environmental  Crime  Directive.53  Member  States'  criminal  codes  have  been 
aligned  with  its  requirements  to  sanction  different  categories  of  environmental  crime, 
including  waste  and  wildlife  crime.  The  EU  has  also  adopted  an  Action  Plan  against 
wildlife  trafficking54  in  February  2016,  which  is  currently  being  implemented.  The 
Commission  is  also  supporting  and  collaborating  with  EU  networks  of  police  officers, 
prosecutors,  inspectors  and  judges  specialised  in  combating  environmental  crime.55 
Given  its  economic  impact,  serious  threat  to  security  and  its  devastating  effect  on  the 
natural  environment,  the  Commission  thus  considers  that  environmental  crime  should 
also be included in the new EU Policy Cycle. 

IV.   CONCLUSION 

The  Commission  considers  that  the  2017  Serious  and  Organised  Crime  Threat 
Assessment is a good basis to set the EU crime tackling priorities for the next four years. 
Building  on  that,  the  Commission  calls  on  the  Council  to  endorse  the  following  eight 
crime threats as priorities in the EU Policy Cycle for serious international and organised 
crime for the years 2018 to 2021: cybercrime, drugs crime, migrant smuggling, organised 
property  crime,  trafficking  in  human  beings,  firearms  trafficking,  VAT  fraud  and 
environmental crime.  

The next report due on 16 May will set out the Commission's findings based on the final 
report of the High Level Expert Group on Information Systems and Interoperability and 
present concrete ideas to  the European Parliament and to the Council as the basis for a 
joint discussion on the way forward. 

51   https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/wildlife/World_Wildlife_Crime_Report_2016_final.pdf; 

http://unep.org/documents/itw/environmental_crimes.pdf 

52   In  2015,  Europol  coordinated  a  global  wildlife  crime  operation  COBRA  III:  25  EU  Member  States, 
Interpol and Eurojust participated in this operation under the umbrella of the EU Wildlife Enforcement 
Group. The operation targeted primarily smugglers of ivory and rhino horns who operate on the route 
from Africa via Europe towards the Asian (mainly Chinese and Vietnamese) markets. The operation 
consisted  of  70  complex  investigations  in  25  participating  states  and  600  seizures,  including  large 
amounts of new age medicine containing extracts from protected plants, and several thousand kilos of 
protected timber. See Europol review 2015. 

53   Directive 2008/99/EC on the protection of the environment through criminal law, OJ L 328, 6.12.2008, 

p. 28.  

54   COM(2016) 87 final, 26.2.2016. 
55   EnviCrimeNet,  European  Network  of  Prosecutors  for  the  Environment  (ENPE),  IMPEL  and  EU 

Forum of Judges for the Environment (EUFJE). 

11