Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on asset recovery and confiscation
Date: 2022-05-25
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: EU restrictive measure, European security, confiscation of property, criminal proceedings, cross-border cooperation, fight against crime, judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU, offence, organised crime, seizure of goods

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 25.5.2022  COM(2022) 245 final 2022/0167 (COD)  Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on asset recovery and confiscation {SEC(2022) 245 final} - {SWD(2022) 245 final} - {SWD(2022) 246 final}  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

• 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

Organised  crime  is  one  of  the  highest  threats  to  the  European  Union’s  security.  The 
transnational reach of organised crime, its systematic use of violence and corruption, and its 
unprecedented degree of economic infiltration was exposed in the EncroChat, Sky ECC and 
AN0M1  operations  carried  out  in  2020-2021.  On  the  basis  of  the  follow-up  investigations 
launched by Member States as well as Europol and Eurojust (more than 2,500 investigations 
from  EncroChat  only),  national  authorities  have  carried  out  more  than  10,000  arrests, 
apprehended almost 250 tonnes of drugs, and seized more than EUR 600 million in cash as 
well as other assets, including hundreds of vehicles, vessels, aircraft and luxury articles. 

Criminal organisations deploy sophisticated means to launder their vast revenues, which are 
estimated at least at EUR 139 billion every year[1]. As underlined in the EU Strategy to tackle 
Organised  Crime  (2021-2025)2,  depriving  criminals  of  these  illicit  profits  is  essential  to 
disrupt  the  activities  of  criminal  groups  and  to  prevent  their  infiltration  into  the  legal 
economy. As the main motive for organised crime is financial gain, asset recovery is a very 
effective mechanism to deter criminal activity. In order to ensure that crime does not pay, the 
Commission  announced  in  its  EU  Strategy  to  tackle  Organised  Crime  the  intention  to 
strengthen  the  rules  on  asset  recovery  and  confiscation,  taking  into  account  the  2020 
Commission report “Asset recovery and confiscation: Ensuring that crime does not pay”3. 

The  2007  asset  recovery  offices  Council  Decision4  requires  Member  States  to  set  up  asset 
recovery  offices  to  facilitate  the  tracing  and  identification  of  the  proceeds  of  crime,  and 
establishes  minimum  requirements  to  facilitate  their  cooperation  across  borders.  The  2014 
Confiscation Directive5, partially replacing prior legislative instruments, sets minimum rules 
for  the  freezing,  management,  and  confiscation  of  criminal  assets.  Despite  this,  Member 
States’  asset  recovery  systems  are  not  well  equipped  to  effectively  address  the  complex 
modus  operandi  of  criminal  organisations.  National  authorities  have  limited  capabilities  to 
swiftly  trace,  identify  and  freeze  assets,  the  inefficient  management  of  frozen  assets  means 
they lose value before a decision on their confiscation is taken, and existing confiscation tools 
do  not  cover  all  high  revenue-granting  criminal  markets  and  do  not  address  the  complex 

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Europol,  “Dismantling  of  an  encrypted  network  sends  shockwaves  through  organised  crime  groups 
across Europe”, 2 July 2020; “New major interventions to block encrypted communications of criminal 
networks”,  10  March  2021;  “800  criminal  arrested  in  biggest  ever  law  enforcement  operation  against 
encrypted communication”, 8 June 2021. 
Commission  Communication  on  the  EU  Strategy  to  tackle  Organised  Crime  2021-2025  (COM(2021) 
170, 14.4.2021). 
Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  Asset  recovery  and 
confiscation: Ensuring that crime does not pay (COM(2020) 217, 2.6.2020). 
Council Decision 2007/845/JHA of 6 December 2007 concerning cooperation between  asset recovery 
offices  of  the  Member  States  in  the  field  of  tracing  and  identification  of  proceeds  from,  or  other 
property related to, crime, OJ L 332, 18.12.2007, p. 103. 
Directive 2014/42/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the freezing 
and  confiscation  of  instrumentalities  and  proceeds  of  crime  in  the  European  Union,  OJ  L  127, 
29.4.2014, p. 39. 

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structures and methods of criminal organisations. The need to reinforce the EU asset recovery 
regime has long been recognised by EU Institutions. In June 2020, the Council called on the 
Commission  to  consider  strengthening  the  legal  framework  on  the  management  of  property 
frozen and granting asset  recovery  offices  additional powers, for instance to  urgently freeze 
assets,  and  access  to  a  set  of  public  registers6.  The  European  Parliament  has  called  for 
enhanced  asset  recovery  rules7.  These  calls  complement  the  previous  request  by  both  co-
legislators to analyse the feasibility of introducing further common rules on the confiscation 
of property deriving from criminal activities, also in the absence of a conviction8.  

Therefore,  the  proposed  Directive  on  asset  recovery  and  confiscation  shall  strengthen  the 
capabilities of competent authorities to identify, freeze and manage assets, and reinforce and 
extend  confiscation  capabilities  so  as  to  cover  all  relevant  criminal  activities  carried  out  by 
organised  crime  groups,  thereby  enabling  confiscation  for  all  relevant  assets.  Lastly,  the 
Directive shall improve the cooperation between all authorities involved in asset recovery and 
promote a more strategic approach to asset recovery through a greater commitment from these 
authorities to the achievement of common goals in this area. 

Moreover, in  response to  Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, the European Union 
has  adopted  restrictive  measures  against  Russia  and  Belarus  building  on  and  expanding  the 
restrictive measures initially established in March 2014 in response to the  illegal annexation 
of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia.  These measures, adopted on the basis of Article 29 of 
the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and of Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of 
the European Union (TFEU), include sectorial measures and individual measures in the form 
of  asset  freezes  and  restrictions  on  admission  as  well  as  anti-circumvention  clauses,  which 
prohibit  knowing  and  intentional  participation  in  activities  that  seek  to  circumvent  these 
measures,  and  other  obligations,  in  particular  to  report  on  steps  taken  to  implement  Union 
restrictive  measures.  To  further  counter  the  risk  of  violation  of  such  measures,  the 
Commission  adopted  on  25  May  2022  a  proposal  for  a  Council  Decision  on  adding  the 
violation of Union restrictive measures to the areas of crime laid down in Article 83(1) of the 
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union9, together with a Communication towards a 
Directive  on  criminal  penalties  for  the  violation  of  Union  restrictive  measures10,  to  identify 
the violation of Union law on restrictive measures (violation of Union restrictive measures) as 
an area of particularly serious crime with a cross-border dimension. The Communication also 
outlines the possible content of a proposal for a Directive establishing minimum rules for the 
definition of criminal offences and penalties in this area of crime, which might follow if the 
Council  is  to  adopt  this  proposal  for  a  Council  Decision  after  obtaining  the  consent  of  the 
European  Parliament,  and  thereby  extend  the  list  of  areas  of  crime  where  the  Union  can 

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Council Conclusions on enhancing financial investigations to fight serious and organised crime Council 
document 8927/20, 17 June 2020. 
European  Parliament  resolution  of  15  December  2021  on  the  impact  of  organised  crime  on  own 
resources of the EU and on the misuse of EU funds with a particular focus on shared management from 
an auditing and control perspective, P9_TA(2021)0501, (2020/2221(INI). 
Statement  by  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  an  analysis  to  be  carried  out  by  the 
Commission, Council doc. 7329/1/14/REV 1 ADD 1. 
Add reference number 
Add reference number 

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establish  minimum  rules  concerning  the  definition  of  criminal  offences  and  penalties.  As  a 
consequence,  the  proposed  Directive,  including  not  only  rules  on  asset  tracing  and 
identification as well as asset management, but also rules on freezing and confiscation, should 
then also apply to the violation of Union restrictive measures, where such conduct constitutes 
a criminal offence as defined. 

Moreover,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  effective  implementation  of  Union  restrictive  measures 
across Member States, the proposed Directive sets out provisions to  enable the swift tracing 
and  identification  of  property  owned  or  controlled  by  persons  or  entities  subject  to  such 
measures, including through cooperation with third countries, with a view to detect, prevent 
and investigate criminal offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures. 

• 

Consistency with existing provisions in the policy area 

This proposal is embedded in the global fight against organised crime, corruption and money 
laundering. It implements the United Nations Convention on Organized Crime (UNTOC) and 
the Protocols thereto11 and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC)12, the 
Council  of  Europe  Warsaw  Convention13  as  well  as  Recommendation  4  of  the  Financial 
Action  Task  Force  (FATF),  all  of  which  require  the  countries  party  to  adopt  measures  to 
enable their competent authorities to freeze and confiscate proceeds and instrumentalities of 
crime.  

It is also part of the broader efforts at EU level to combat serious and organised crime. In this 
context, it complements a set of legislative instruments harmonising the definition of offences 
and sanctions related to criminal activities, as well as other instruments aimed at preventing or 
combating  related  illicit  activities  such  as  counterfeiting,  trafficking  of  cultural  goods,  tax 
crimes and forgery of administrative documents. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  proposal  is  consistent  with  and  contributes  to  the  effective 
implementation  of the EU policy on security, which consists of a toolbox of non-legislative 
and legislative measures aimed at providing law enforcement and judicial authorities with the 
tools to prevent and combat a wide range of criminal activities, and to ensure a high level of 
security in the European Union, in particular through cross-border cooperation. This includes, 
in  particular,  Regulation  (EU)  2018/180514,  which  facilitates  the  mutual  recognition  of 
freezing and confiscation orders across the EU. 

At  the  same  time,  the  proposal  contributes  to  and  is  consistent  with  the  legal  framework 
establishing  Union  restrictive  measures,  which  aims  at  ensuring  their  comprehensive 

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United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and 
Punish  Trafficking  in  Persons,  especially  Women  and  Children;  Protocol  against  the  Smuggling  of 
Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, General Assembly resolution 55/25 of 15 November 2000; and Protocol 
against  the  Illicit  Manufacturing  and  Trafficking  in  Firearms,  General  Assembly  resolution  55/255  of 
31 May 2001. 
United Nations Convention against Corruption, General Assembly resolution 58/43 of 1 October 2003  
Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from 
Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (CETS No. 198). 
Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 on 
the mutual recognition of freezing orders and confiscation orders, OJ L 303 of 28.11.2018, p.1. 

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implementation  across  the  Union  and  requires  Member  States  to  lay  down  the  rules  on 
penalties applicable to infringements of the relevant provisions.  

2. 

• 

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

The Directive is based on Articles 82(2), 83(1) and (2) and Article 87(2) TFEU.  

Measures  concerning  freezing  and  confiscation  are  covered  by  Article  83(1)  TFEU,  which 
allows the establishment of minimum rules concerning the definition of sanctions in the areas 
of particularly serious crime with a cross-border dimension for the crimes listed in this article. 
The  scope  of  these  measures  is  extended  to  offences  carried  out  within  the  framework  of 
criminal  organisations,  organised  crime  being  a  “eurocrime”  within  the  meaning  of  Article 
83(1) TFEU. This would also include violation of Union restrictive measures as harmonised 
at  EU  level.  The  inclusion  of  crimes  which  are  either  harmonised  at  EU  level  or  where  the 
related  policy  area  is  harmonised  at  EU  level  is  also  justified  as  the  proposed  measures  on 
freezing  and  confiscation  are  essential  to  ensure  the  effective  implementation  of  a  Union 
policy in an area which has been subject to harmonisation measures and thereby covered by 
Article  83(2)  TFEU.  The  measures  aimed  at  improving  the  management  of  frozen  and 
confiscated  property  are  necessary  to  ensure  the  effective  implementation  of  freezing  and 
confiscation measures, and are ancillary requirements covered by Article 83 TFEU. This also 
applies  to  provisions  that  aim  at  developing  a  more  comprehensive  strategy  towards  asset 
recovery,  coupled  with  cooperation  mechanisms  between  authorities  at  national  level  and 
provisions that aim at ensuring that the competent authorities have the necessary resources to 
carry out their tasks. 

Furthermore,  measures  on  asset  tracing  and  identification  or  cooperation  between  asset 
recovery  offices  and  asset  management  offices  with  their  counterparts  in  other  Member 
States,  also  contribute  to  effective  cross-border  cooperation  in  relation  to  the  prevention, 
detection  and  investigation  of  criminal  offences.  They  are  as  such  covered  by  Article  87(2) 
TFEU. 

As  the  scope  of  Article  87  TFEU  is  not  limited  in  terms  of  crimes  covered,  the  above 
measures  also  apply  to  the  violation  of  Union  restrictive  measures,  to  the  extent  that  such 
violation  constitutes  a  criminal  offence  as  defined  in  national  law,  to  the  extent  that  they 
facilitate the prevention and detection of infringements of Union restrictive measures. 

Moreover,  the  procedural  safeguards  provided  in  this  Directive  as  well  as  the  provision  to 
ensure compensation for victims are covered by Article 82(2) TFEU.  

• 

Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)  

Individual efforts of Member States to tackle organised crime are not sufficient to tackle the 
cross-border nature of organised crime groups, with 70% of criminal groups operating in the 

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EU  being  active  in  more  than  three  Member  States15,  and  hiding  and  re-investing  property 
derived  from  criminal  activities  across  the  EU’s  internal  market.  Criminal  groups  employ  a 
complex web of bank accounts and front companies across jurisdictions to disguise the audit 
trail and hide the source and ownership of funds, with criminals reportedly targeting Member 
States with weaker asset recovery systems16. 

A  renewed  effort  across  the  Union  against  the  financial  means  of  criminal  organisations  is 
therefore  crucial  for  the  effective  recovery  of  instrumentalities  and  proceeds  of  crime.  The 
proposed Directive will facilitate cross-border cooperation and contribute to a more effective 
fight against organised crime. 

• 

Proportionality 

In  accordance  with  the  principle  of  proportionality,  as  set  out  in  Article  5(4)  TEU,  the 
proposed Directive is limited to what is necessary and proportionate to implement a common 
minimum standard across the EU.  

The  proposal  strengthens  capabilities  and  tools  to  trace  and  identify,  freeze,  manage  and 
confiscate  illicit  assets.  While  ensuring  a  sufficiently  broad  scope,  the  measures  have  a 
particular focus on illicit assets related to  criminal activities carried out  by organised crime. 
The  proposal  clarifies  a  number  of  obligations  of  a  more  general  nature,  thereby  reducing 
differences in Member States that can be obstacles in cross-border cooperation and providing 
further legal clarity.  

Furthermore,  the  impact  of  the  proposed  measures  on  Member  States  in  terms  of  necessary 
resources and the need to adapt national frameworks is outweighed by the benefits provided 
by  the  improved  capabilities  of  competent  authorities  to  trace  and  identify,  freeze,  manage 
and confiscate illicit assets.  

Moreover, the individual measures are limited to what is necessary and proportionate to the 
objectives of disrupting organised crime activities and depriving criminals of significant illicit 
gains.  This  is  done,  for  example,  by  restricting  the  systematic  launch  of  asset  tracing 
investigations  to  offences  likely  to  generate  substantial  economic  benefits.  This  is  also 
achieved  by  limiting  confiscation  possibilities  in  the  absence  of  a  conviction  for  a  specific 
crime  to  crimes  of  serious  nature  and  that  are  likely  to  generate  substantial  benefits.  The 
overall proportionality is ensured by pairing different measures with strong safeguards. 

• 

Choice of the instrument 

The proposal takes the form of a Directive aimed at ensuring a common minimum standard 
for  freezing  and  confiscation  measures  across  Member  States  while  at  the  same  time 
strengthening  common  capabilities  in  terms  of  tracing,  identification  and  management  of 

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Europol,  European  Union  Serious  and  Organised  Crime  Threat  Assessment  “A  Corrupting  Influence: 
The infiltration and undermining of Europe’s economy and society by organised crimes”, (2021). 
Meeting with Eurojust experts in June 2016, quoted from Commission staff working document ‘Impact 
assessment  accompanying  the  document  Proposal  for  a  regulation  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of 
the Council on the mutual recognition of freezing and confiscation orders’, SWD(2016) 468 final. 

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property  and  facilitating  cross-border  cooperation  against  criminal  proceeds.  The  choice  of 
the legal instrument leaves sufficient flexibility to Member States to implement the common 
measures in accordance with national legal traditions and organisational settings.  

The proposed Directive  sets  out  provisions for  asset recovery  offices, currently regulated in 
the asset recovery offices Council Decision, as well as for confiscation aspects, regulated in 
the  Confiscation  Directive  and 
in  Council  Framework  Decision  2005/212/JHA  on 
Confiscation  of  Crime-Related  Proceeds,  Instrumentalities  and  Property.  The  proposed 
Directive  would  replace  Council  Framework  Decision  2005/212/JHA,  the  asset  recovery 
offices Council Decision, and the Confiscation Directive, establishing common standards for 
asset  tracing  and  identification,  freezing,  management,  and  confiscation  in  a  single 
instrument. The  combination of previously scattered obligations within one single instrument 
would ensure a more coherent and strategic approach to asset recovery and cooperation of all 
relevant actors within the asset recovery system. 

• 

Regulatory Scrutiny Board 

The impact assessment was submitted to the Regulatory Scrutiny Board on 2 February 2022. 
The  Regulatory  Scrutiny  Board  reviewed  the  draft  impact  assessment  at  its  meeting  of  2 
March 2022 and delivered a positive opinion without reservations on 4 March 2022.  

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RESULTS 
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

EX-POST 

EVALUATIONS, 

OF 

STAKEHOLDER 

Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation 

An evaluation was conducted to assess whether the current EU asset recovery system is still 
fit for purpose and to identify any shortcomings that could hamper the fight against organised 
crime.  In  line  with  the  “evaluate  first”  principle,  the  evaluation  assessed  whether  the 
originally  envisaged  results  were  achieved  and  identified  the  areas  where  a  further 
improvement or update of existing legal instruments was needed. 

In  this  context,  the  two  evaluated  legal  instruments,  the  asset  recovery  offices  Council 
Decision and the Confiscation Directive, have contributed to increasing cooperation between 
asset  recovery  offices,  approximating  the  concepts  of  freezing  and  confiscation  across 
Member  States  and  increased  freezing  and  confiscation  rates  to  some  extent.  However,  the 
evaluation concluded that challenges in the identification of assets remain and that the overall 
confiscation of proceeds of crime remains too low to significantly impact organised crime’s 
profits.  Despite  the  improvement  of  various  aspects  of  the  asset  recovery  system  after  the 
adoption of the asset recovery offices Council Decision and of the Confiscation Directive, the 
problems  identified  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  relevant  acts  (and  in  particular  the 
Confiscation Directive) still persist to a large extent, together with a number of shortcomings 
affecting the Member States’ capacities to  trace  and identify, freeze, confiscate and manage 
illicit assets in an effective and efficient manner. 

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• 

Stakeholder consultations 

In  developing  this  proposal,  the  Commission  has  consulted  a  wide  variety  of  stakeholders, 
including EU institutions and agencies, asset recovery offices, law enforcement authorities in 
the Member States, non-governmental organisations and civil society, as well as international 
organisations.  

Stakeholders were consulted through a variety of means, including feedback for an inception 
impact assessment, stakeholder events, workshops, targeted consultations, public consultation, 
a  study  to  support  the  impact  assessment,  semi-structured  interviews  and  policy  option 
workshops. 

An inception impact assessment was published for feedback from 9 March 2021 to 6 April 
2021. In total 13 responses from a variety of stakeholders were received.  

Two stakeholder workshops were held with asset recovery offices representatives on 25 and 
26 May 2021 and the Contact Committee of the Confiscation Directive on 1 and 2 June 2021. 
The  objective  of  these  workshops  was  to  gain  opinions  in  relation  to  the  effectiveness, 
efficiency,  relevance,  coherence  and  EU  added  value  of  the  Confiscation  Directive  and  the 
asset  recovery  offices  Council  Decision.  These  workshops  were  followed  by  targeted 
consultations by way of written responses provided by the participants.  

A public consultation was held from 21 June until 27 September 2021 in order to gather the 
views  of  citizens  and  stakeholders.  As  many  as  50  responses  were  received.  The  replies 
underlined the importance of cross-border cooperation of law enforcement authorities in the 
fight  against  the  proceeds  of  crime,  and  shed  light  on  the  obstacles  to  the  effective 
identification,  management  and  confiscation  of  proceeds  of  crime,  such  as  the  insufficient 
powers  and  access  to  data  of  asset  recovery  offices,  as  well  as  the  limited  scope  of  the 
Confiscation  Directive.  Additionally,  the  respondents  were  in  favour  of  updating  the 
legislative measures accordingly to address such problems. 

Moreover,  the  Commission  also  commissioned  a  study  to  support  the  preparation  of  the 
impact assessment. The study was carried out by an external consultant between March 2021 
and December 2021. The preparation of the study included desk research and almost 40 semi-
structured  interviews  with  stakeholders  such  as  the  European  Union  Agency  for  Law 
Enforcement  Training  (CEPOL),  the  European  Union  Agency  for  Law  Enforcement 
Cooperation  (Europol),  the  European  Union  Agency  for  Criminal  Justice  Cooperation 
(Eurojust),  law  enforcement  authorities,  asset  recovery  offices  and  Non-Governmental 
Organisations.  Furthermore,  it  entailed  targeted  consultations  in  the  form  of  written 
questionnaires  to  asset  recovery  offices  and  members  of  the  Contact  Committee  of  the 
Confiscation  Directive  in  July  2021.  Lastly,  four  additional  workshops  were  held  in 
September 2021 to gather the views of the stakeholders on the policy options and identify the 
potential impacts of the policy options. 

• 

Impact assessment 

The  impact  assessment  that  supported  the  development  of  this  initiative  explored  different 
policy  options  to  tackle  the  fact  that  the  EU  asset  recovery  system  is  not  well  equipped  to 

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effectively address the complex modus operandi criminal organisations. Besides the baseline 
scenario, which would entail no change over the current situation, the following options were 
analysed: 

Option  1,  consisting  of  non-legislative  measures  to  support  the  exchange  of  experiences, 
knowledge  and  good practices  among  competent  authorities with  a view to  strengthen asset 
recovery  capabilities  and  understanding  in  relation  to  the  various  phases  of  asset  recovery. 
These  exchanges  would  be  further  enhanced  through  the  development  of  appropriate  EU 
guidance and, where appropriate, training to competent authorities.  

Under Option 2, the measures would consist primarily of targeted amendments to the asset 
recovery offices Council Decision and Confiscation Directive in order to specify the scope of 
existing general requirements and reinforce their effectiveness. These measures would include 
requirements for Member States to adopt a national strategy on asset recovery and to ensure 
that the competent authorities have the necessary skills and resources. Furthermore, it would 
entail  measures  aimed  at  improving  cross-border  cooperation  among  asset  recovery  offices, 
including the access to databases and extended freezing powers.   

Option  3  would  contain,  in  addition  to  the  measures  envisaged  in  option  2,  more  detailed 
requirements for Member States for all phases of the recovery process. This would include 
obligations  such  as  the  systematic  launch  of  financial  investigations  as  well  as  specific 
requirements  in  asset  management  like  pre-seizure  planning,  interlocutory  sales  and  the 
establishment  of  specialised  asset  management  offices.  Moreover,  the  scope  of  the 
Confiscation  Directive  would  be  expanded  to  include  a  wider  range  of  crimes:  the  current 
non-conviction  based  confiscation  provision  would  be  extended  and  an  unexplained  wealth 
confiscation model ensuring the confiscation of assets not linked to a specific crime would be 
introduced.  

Under Option 4, the measures would build upon those under Option 3, but the scope of the 
provisions  would  be  extended  to  all  crimes  and  entail  more  extensive  requirements  when  it 
comes  to  the  launch  of  investigations.  Furthermore,  more  concrete  conditions  concerning 
urgent freezing orders and information exchange between asset recovery offices would be set 
out.  

In light of the various economic, social and environmental impacts associated with each of the 
options,  but  also  their  value  in  terms  of  effectiveness,  efficiency  and  proportionality,  the 
impact assessment found that the preferred option was Option 3.  

Measures  under  Option  1  can  complement  legislative  changes,  however,  given  that  the 
problems  identified  resulted  to  a  significant  extent  from  the  legislative  framework,  these 
would  not  have  been  sufficient  to  effectively  overcome  the  identified  problems.  Option  2 
would similarly contribute only to a limited extent to improving the current situation, as the 
few additional requirements  compared to  the status  quo would only strengthen  asset tracing 
and identification  capabilities  to  some degree, would  not  be sufficient  to ensure an efficient 
management of frozen assets, and would not capture all relevant criminal activities insofar as 
confiscation measures would remain limited in scope. 

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As  regards  Option  3,  it  was  found  that  the  measures  concerning  asset  tracing  and 
identification,  and  those  to  ensure  the  adoption  of  effective  asset  management  mechanisms 
and  confiscation  models  would  improve  the  effectiveness  of  the  asset  recovery  system  to  a 
significant  extent. Despite the costs, these measures have been considered as efficient given 
the qualitative leap in the confiscation rate, and proportionate in relation to the administrative 
burden and interference with Member States’ organisational set-ups. In terms of fundamental 
rights, the impacts of Option 3 and in particular of the new confiscation model were found to 
be  balanced  against  safeguards  and  the  policy  objective  sought,  given  the  scale  of  the 
problem.  

In  relation  to  Option  4,  the  expected  gains  in  effectiveness  were  expected  to  be  limited 
compared  to  the  extra  costs  and  the  more  significant  interference  with  Member  States’ 
freedom to organise national set-ups on asset recovery according to their choices and national 
preferences. 

Following  the  positive  opinion  without  reservations  delivered  by  the  Regulatory  Scrutiny 
Board on 4 March 2022, the impact assessment was revised to strengthen the presentation and 
comparison  of  the  policy  options,  including  their  costs,  benefits,  and  impacts.  The  impact 
assessment was further revised to better reflect the views of different stakeholder and how the 
identified  problems  differ  in  the  Member  States.  Finally,  the  revision  outlines  a  first 
monitoring and evaluation programme of the envisaged proposal. 

• 

Regulatory fitness and simplification 

As  per  the  Commission’s  Regulatory  Fitness  and  Performance  Programme  (REFIT),  all 
initiatives aimed at changing existing EU legislation should aim to simplify and deliver stated 
policy  objectives  more  efficiently  (i.e.  by  reducing  unnecessary  regulatory  costs).  The 
analysis of impacts suggests that the measures set out in the proposed Directive are expected 
to have an impact in terms of burden on Member States which would be outweighed by the 
benefits. 

To the extent that the provisions in the proposed Directive envisage a more strategic approach 
to  asset  recovery,  provide  for  more  effective  tools  for  confiscating  assets  and  ensure  that 
competent  authorities  have  the  necessary  resources,  skills  and  powers,  the  Member  States’ 
asset  recovery  systems  as  well  as  cross-border  cooperation  will  become  significantly  more 
efficient. 

The  regulatory  burden  related  to  these  measures  will  be  more  than  offset  by  the  benefits  in 
terms  of  identifying,  freezing  and  confiscating  more  illicit  assets  and  maintaining  or  even 
maximising their value.  

• 

Fundamental rights 

All  measures  as  provided  for  in  this  proposal  respect  fundamental  rights  and  freedoms  as 
enshrined  in  the  Charter  of  Fundamental  Rights  of  the  European  Union,  and  must  be 
implemented  accordingly.  Any  limitation  on  the  exercise  of  such  fundamental  rights  and 
freedoms is subject to the conditions set out in Article 52(1) of the Charter, namely that they 
be subject to the principle of proportionality with respect to the legitimate aim of genuinely 

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meeting objectives of general interest recognised by the Union and protecting the rights and 
freedoms of others.  Limitations must be provided for by law and respect the essence of the 
rights and freedoms set out in the Charter. 

The  interference  of  the  proposed  measures  with  fundamental  rights  (including  in  particular 
property  rights)  is  justified  by  the  need  to  effectively  deprive  criminals  and  in  particular 
organised  crime  of  their  illicit  assets,  since  these  are  both  the  main  motivation  for  them  to 
commit crime as well as the means for continuing and expanding their criminal activities. The 
proposed  measures  are  limited  to  what  is  necessary  to  achieve  that  objective.  The  newly 
introduced  confiscation  model  is  justified  by  the  inherent  difficulties  in  linking  assets  to 
specific  crimes  where  the  owner  is  engaged  in  organised  crime  activities  consisting  of 
multiple criminal offences committed over a prolonged period of time. Finally, the respect of 
fundamental rights will be guaranteed by safeguards including effective remedies available to 
the person affected for all measures under the proposed Directive, including newly introduced 
requirements concerning interlocutory sales or the new confiscation model.  

This  proposal  also  ensures  that  the  relevant  EU  data  protection  rules  are  applied  when 
implementing the Directive. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

The proposal has no impact on the European Union budget. 

5. 

• 

OTHER ELEMENTS 

Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements 

The implementation of the proposed Directive will be reviewed by 3 years after its entry into 
force, after which the Commission will submit a report to the European Parliament and to the 
Council.  This  report  will  assess  the  extent  to  which  the  Member  States  have  taken  the 
necessary  measures  to  comply  with  the  Directive.  A  report  assessing  the  impact  and  added 
value of the Directive will be submitted by the Commission to the European Parliament and to 
the Council by five years after the entry into force of the Directive. 

• 

Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal 

This proposal for a Directive is structured in eight chapters:  

General provisions on asset recovery and confiscation (Chapter I, Articles 1 to 3).  

Article  1  sets  out  the  subject  matter,  namely  to  establish  minimum  rules  on  the  tracing  and 
identification, freezing, confiscation and management of property in criminal matters  and to 
facilitate the implementation of Union restrictive measures where necessary to prevent, detect 
or investigate criminal offences related to the violation of such measures. 

Article 2 defines the scope by listing the criminal offences to which the rules set out in this 
Directive should apply. This list includes the crimes listed in Article 83 TFEU and the crimes 
that are harmonised at EU level. Furthermore, the article on the scope includes a number of 
crimes  that  are  typically  carried  out  by  organised  crime  groups.  In  addition,  it  includes 
offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures. For the purposes of tracing and 

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identification of property, offences punishable by a maximum imprisonment term of at least 
one year are covered.  

Article  3  defines  the  key  terms  used  in  the  asset  recovery  process,  retaining  the  definitions 
currently  included  in  the  Confiscation  Directive  and  adding  new  definitions  for  instance  in 
relation  to  tracing  investigations  as  well  as  the  notion  of  “targeted  financial  sanctions”  and 
“Union restrictive measures”. References to  the term “asset” are to  be understood in  a non-
technical  manner.  For the purposes of provisions on the tracing  and identification, freezing, 
confiscation  and  management  of  property  within  the  framework  of  proceedings  in  criminal 
matters the terms “proceeds”, “instrumentalities”, and “property” are used and defined. 

Provisions on the tracing and identification of assets (Chapter II, Articles 4 to 10)  

The provisions in Chapter II are based on Article 87(2) TFEU. As such, the provisions aim at 
the  tracing  and  identification  of  property  in  criminal  matters  as  well  as  at  facilitating  the 
implementation  of  Union  restrictive  measures  where  necessary  to  prevent,  detect  or 
investigate criminal offences related to the violation of such measures. 

Article  4  requires  Member  States  to  ensure  asset  tracing  investigations  with  a  view  to 
facilitate cross-border cooperation, in particular whenever there is a suspicion that a criminal 
offence may lead to substantial economic profits and in order to prevent, detect or investigate 
the violation of Union restrictive measures.  

Article  5  sets  out  the  obligation  for  Member  States  to  establish  at  least  one  asset  recovery 
office,  in  line  with  the  current  asset  recovery  offices  Council  Decision.  In  addition  to  the 
current rules, this provision sets out the specific tasks of the asset recovery offices, including 
the exchange of information with other asset recovery offices in other Member States also in 
the  context  of  preventing,  detecting  and  investigating  the  violation  of  Union  restrictive 
measures.  This  article  also  provides  the  asset  recovery  offices  with  the  task  of  tracing  and 
identification of property of persons and entities subject to Union restrictive measures.  In this 
context,  asset  recovery  offices  would  also  have  the  power  to  take  immediate  action  to 
temporarily freeze the property in question. 

Article 6 sets out the information that Member States should make directly accessible to the 
asset  recovery  offices  in  order  to  ensure  a  swift  reaction  to  the  information  requests  from 
other Member States, an aspect not regulated in the asset recovery offices’ Council Decision.  

Article 7 provides specific safeguards in relation to access to information. This provision aims 
at  ensuring  that  national  authorities  access  the  information  on  a  need-to-know  basis  within 
necessary security and confidentiality rules.   

Article  8  establishes  a  monitoring  framework  for  access  to  information  by  the  competent 
national  authorities.  The  objective  of  this  provision  is  to  prevent  any  misconduct  or 
inadequate access to information.  

Article  9  regulates  the  exchange  of  information  among  asset  recovery  offices,  both 
spontaneously  and  upon  request,  providing  further  details  in  comparison  with  the  asset 
recovery offices Council Decision, including by setting out the purposes of such exchanges, 

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the minimum information to be included in cross-border requests, the channel for exchanging 
information (SIENA) and grounds for refusal.  

Article 10 sets out the time limits to respond to information requests, without modifying the 
deadlines set in the asset recovery offices Council Decision, which refers to the deadlines of 
the  Council  Framework  Decision  2006/960/JHA17.  This  provision  regulates  two  scenarios, 
namely  normal  requests  that  should  be  responded  to  within  seven  days  and  urgent  requests 
that should be dealt with within eight hours. 

Provisions on the freezing and confiscation of assets (Chapter III, Articles 11 to 18).  

The  provisions  on  freezing  and  confiscation  are  based  on  Article  83  TFEU.  As  such,  the 
provisions in Chapter III shall apply to criminal offences under the scope of Article 2(1), 2(2), 
2(3) and 2(4) of this Directive but not to freezing under Union restrictive measures. 

Article 11 requires Member States to take the necessary measures to ensure that illicit assets 
can be frozen quickly and, where necessary, with immediate effect to avoid their dissipation. 
These measures include – in addition to the measures set out in the Confiscation Directive -   
the  possibility  for  asset  recovery  offices  to  take  temporary  urgent  freezing  measures  until  a 
formal  freezing  order  can  be  issued.  This  article  also  provides  for  a  specific  safeguard 
establishing that the freezing order shall remain in place only for as long as necessary and that 
the property should be returned immediately if it is not confiscated. 

Article 12 requires Member States to enable the confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds 
of crime following a final conviction and to enable the confiscation of property of equivalent 
value  to  the  proceeds  of  crime  (“standard  and  value  confiscation”  as  provided  for  under 
existing EU rules).  

Article 13 requires Member States to enable the confiscation of properties transferred by the 
accused or suspected person to a third party for the purpose of avoiding confiscation (“third 
party  confiscation”  as  provided  for  under  the  Confiscation  Directive).  Such  confiscation  is 
only  justified  where  the  third  party  knew  or  ought  to  have  known  that  the  transfer  of  the 
property was made for that purpose. The provisions set out circumstances that are relevant in 
making this assessment. 

Article  14  requires  Member  States  to  enable  the  confiscation  of  property  of  a  convicted 
person when the national court of a Member State is convinced that that the property derives 
from a criminal activity (“extended confiscation”). In its assessment, the national court should 
take into consideration all circumstances of the case, including the fact that the value of the 
property  is  disproportionate  to  the  lawful  income  of  the  convicted  person.  Compared  to  the 
Confiscation Directive, this possibility should be available for all crimes within the scope of 
the Directive. 

Article 15 requires Member States to provide for the possibility of confiscation where all the 
evidence  for  a  criminal  offence  is  present,  but  a  conviction  is  not  possible  due  to  a  limited 

17 

Council  Framework  Decision  2006/960/JHA  of  18  December  2006  on  simplifying  the  exchange  of 
information  and  intelligence  between  law  enforcement  authorities  of  the  Member  States  of  the 
European Union (OJ L 386, 29.12.2006, p. 89). 

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number of circumstances. These circumstances include, in addition to illness and absconding 
(already included in the Confiscation Directive), the death of the suspected or accused person, 
as  well  as  immunity  or  amnesty,  or  the  fact  that  the  time  limits  prescribed  by  national  law 
expired.  The  scope  in  terms  of  offences  is  limited  to  those  with  a  maximum  imprisonment 
term of at least 4 years. 

Article  16  introduces  a  new  confiscation  possibility  where  assets  are  frozen  based  on 
suspicion of involvement in organised crime activities and where a confiscation under other 
provisions of the Directive is not possible. It should allow for the confiscation of assets only 
where  the  national  court  is  convinced  that  the  assets  in  question  derive  from  criminal 
activities. This finding must be based on a comprehensive assessment of all the circumstances 
of the case, including if the value of the property is disproportionate to the lawful income of 
the owner.  The scope in terms of offences is limited to those with a maximum imprisonment 
term of at least 4 years. 

Article  17  requires  Member  States  to  ensure  post-conviction  asset  tracing  investigations  to 
ensure  the  effective  enforcement  of  a  confiscation  order.  Moreover,  this  article  requires 
Member  States  to  consider  the  use  of  confiscated  properties  for  public  or  social  purposes. 
Both provisions are based on relevant provisions in the Confiscation Directive. 

Article 18 aims  at  ensuring that the right  to  compensation for victims is not  affected by the 
confiscation measures, similar to the relevant provision in the Confiscation Directive.  

Provisions on the management of assets (Chapter IV, Articles 19 to 21) 

The  provisions  on  management  are  based  on  Article  83  TFEU.  As  such,  the  provisions  in 
Chapter IV shall apply to the criminal offences under the scope of Article 2(1), 2(2), 2(3) and 
2(4) of this Directive but not to freezing under Union restrictive measures.  

Article  19  requires  Member  States  to  ensure  that  frozen  or  confiscated  assets  are  managed 
efficiently until their disposal. Further clarifying the scope of this general requirement (similar 
to  the  relevant  provision  in  the  Confiscation  Directive),  the  objective  of  this  provision  is  to 
preserve  the  value  of  the  properties  and  minimise  management  costs.  To  achieve  this 
objective, Member States are required to carry out a preliminary assessment of the costs that 
will be incurred in managing the properties (“pre-seizure planning”).  

Article  20  requires  Member  States  to  provide  for  the  possibility  to  transfer  or  sell  frozen 
assets  before  the  confiscation  order  is  issued  (“interlocutory  sale”).  The  provision  further 
specifies  the  scope  of  this  general  obligation  (as  set  out  in  the  Confiscation  Directive), 
requiring  interlocutory  sales  to  be  undertaken  in  certain  circumstances  to  avoid  the  loss  of 
value  of  property,  or  that  management  costs  become  disproportionate.  This  requirement  is 
subject  to  a  number  of  safeguards  to  protect  the  legitimate  interests  of  the  affected  person. 
These safeguards include, in addition to the general safeguards, the right to be heard before 
the interlocutory sale decision is taken. These rules apply to property identified in the context 
of the implementation of Union restrictive measures to the extent that they have been frozen 
in  relation  to  criminal  charges,  such  as  violation  of  Union  restrictive  measures.  In  addition, 
Article 20 includes the possibility to charge the costs for the management of frozen assets to 
the beneficial owner. 

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Article 21 requires Member States to establish at least one asset management office, and sets 
out the tasks for asset management offices in a more precise manner compared to the relevant 
provisions in the Confiscation Directive.   

Provisions on safeguards (Chapter V, Articles 22 to 24) 

The  provisions  on  safeguards  are  based  on  Article  82(2)  TFEU.  As  such,  the  provisions  in 
Chapter V shall apply to the criminal offences under the scope of Article 2(1), 2(2), 2(3) and 
2(4) of this Directive.  

Safeguards under this section are broadly based on the current provisions in the Confiscation 
Directive, while providing further clarifications increasing the effectiveness of the safeguards 
and updating the safeguards to the new data protection rules. 

Article 22 aims to ensure that affected persons are informed of the freezing and confiscation 
measures adopted including the reasons for their adoption.  

Article 23 sets out more specific requirements ensuring that effective legal remedies against 
measures  taken  on  the  basis  of  the  provisions  of  this  Directive  are  available.  This  includes 
also the right of access to a lawyer.  

Provisions on the Asset Recovery Strategic Framework (Chapter VI, Articles 24 to 27)  

Most provisions under this section are new, aiming at ensuring that the overall asset recovery 
and confiscation process is more effective. 

Article 24 requires Member States to adopt a national strategy on asset recovery and to update 
it  every  five  years.  The  national  strategy  should  be  a  tool  for  Member  States  to  set  out 
measures to enhance the efforts of national authorities involved in the asset recovery process, 
ensure and facilitate cooperation and coordination and to measure progress. For that purpose, 
the strategy should set out objectives, needs in terms of resources (including training) as well 
as cooperation mechanisms between the relevant national authorities.  

Article 25 requires Member States to ensure that in particular asset recovery offices and asset 
management offices have the necessary resources to carry out their tasks.  

Article  26  requires  Member  States  to  set  up  a  centralised  registry  containing  relevant 
information  on  frozen,  managed,  and  confiscated  assets.  Asset  recovery  offices,  asset 
management offices, as well as other authorities tasked with the tracing and identification or 
management of assets should be able to access this registry.    

Article 27 requires Member States to collect statistical data on the measures taken on the basis 
of  this  Directive  and  to  communicate  such  data  to  the  Commission  on  an  annual  basis. 
Reliable and complete statistical data is essential for a proper assessment of the effectiveness 
of  measures  adopted  under  this  Directive.  The  article  empowers  the  Commission,  where 
necessary, to adopt delegated acts on the information to be collected and methodology.  

Provisions  on  the  cooperation  between  asset  recovery  offices  and  EU  bodies,  Agencies  and 
third countries (Chapter VII, Articles 28 and 29)   

Provisions on cooperation are new and reflect the aim to provide for a comprehensive legal 
framework covering all relevant aspects of asset recovery. 

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Article  28  aims  at  ensuring  cooperation  between  asset  recovery  offices  and  the  European 
Public  Prosecutor’s  Office,  Europol  and  Eurojust,  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  tracing 
and  identification  of  property  that  may  be  subject  to  confiscation.  The  article  also  provides 
that asset recovery offices will need to cooperate with Europol and Eurojust where necessary 
to  prevent,  detect  or  investigate  offences  related  to  the  violation  of  the  Union    restrictive 
measures.   

Article  29  aims  at  ensuring  cooperation  between  asset  recovery  offices  as  well  as  asset 
management  offices  and  their  counterparts  in  third  countries.  Cooperation  between  asset 
recovery  offices  extends  to  situations  where  necessary  to  prevent,  detect  or  investigate 
offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures.  

Final provisions (Chapter VIII, Articles 30 to 37) 

This  section  deals  with  a  number  of  legal  and  technical  issues.  Firstly,  it  confers  to  the 
Commission the power to adopt delegated acts subject to conditions laid down in the article 
(Article  30).  Secondly,  it  requires  Member  States  to  communicate  to  the  Commission  the 
designated competent authorities as well as relevant contact points pursuant to Article 5 and 
Article  21  of  this  Directive  (Article  31).  Moreover,  this  chapter  includes  a  provision  on  the 
transposition  into  national  law  (Article  32)  and  provides  for  the  obligation  for  the 
Commission to report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation as 
well  as  subsequent  evaluation  of  this  Directive  (Article  33).  It  clarifies  the  relationship  to 
other  legal  instruments  (Article  34)  and  provides  for  the  replacement  of  five  existing  legal 
acts  (Article  35);  only  Denmark  would  remain  bound  by  the  asset  recovery  offices  Council 
Decision  to  ensure  that  cooperation  with  Danish  asset  recovery  offices  will  continue  to  be 
governed by the relevant EU acquis. Finally, this section includes rules on the entry into force 
(Article 36) and the addressees (Article 37).   

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2022/0167 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on asset recovery and confiscation 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 82(2), Article 83(1) and (2) and Article 87(2) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee18,  

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

Europol’s  2021  Serious  and  Organised  Crime  Threat  Assessment  (SOCTA) 
highlighted the rising threat from organised crime and criminal infiltration. Driven by 
the large revenues generated by organised crime, which amount to  at least  EUR 139 
billion  every  year,  and  which  are  increasingly  laundered  through  a  parallel 
underground  financial  system,  the  availability  of  such  proceeds  from  criminal 
activities poses a significant threat to the integrity of the economy and society, eroding 
the  rule  of  law  and  fundamental  rights.  The  EU  Strategy  to  tackle  Organised  Crime 
2021-2025  aims  at  addressing 
these  challenges  by  promoting  cross-border 
cooperation, supporting effective investigations against criminal networks, eliminating 
proceeds from criminal activities, and making law enforcement and the judiciary fit for 
the digital age. 

The  main  motive  for  cross-border  organised  crime,  including  high-risk  criminal 
networks, is financial gain. Therefore, to tackle the serious threat posed by organised 
crime,  competent  authorities  should  be  given  the  means  to  effectively  trace  and 
identify, freeze, confiscate and manage the instrumentalities and proceeds of crime and 
property that stems from criminal activities. 

An  effective  asset  recovery  system  requires  the  swift  tracing  and  identification  of 
instrumentalities  and  proceeds  of  crime,  and  property  suspected  to  be  of  criminal 
origin.  Such  proceeds,  instrumentalities,  and  property  should  be  frozen  in  order  to 
prevent its disappearance, following which it should be confiscated upon conclusion of 
criminal proceedings. An effective asset recovery system further requires the effective 
management of frozen and confiscated property to maintain its value for the State or 
for the restitution for victims. 

The  current  Union 
identification,  freezing, 
confiscation and management of proceeds, instrumentalities and property, and on asset 

legal  framework  on 

tracing  and 

18 

OJ C , , p. . 

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(5) 

recovery offices, consists of Directive 2014/42/EU of the European Parliament and of 
the  Council19,  Council  Decision  2007/845/JHA20  and  Council  Framework  Decision 
2005/212/JHA21.  The  Commission  evaluated  Directive  2014/42/EU  and  Council 
Decision 2007/845/JHA, concluding that the current framework has not fully achieved 
the policy objective of fighting organised crime through recovering its profits.  

Therefore,  the  existing  legal  framework  should  be  updated,  so  as  to  facilitate  and 
ensure effective asset recovery and confiscation efforts across the Union. To that end, 
the Directive should lay down minimum rules on tracing and identification, freezing, 
confiscation  and  management  of  property  within  the  framework  of  proceedings  in 
criminal  matters.  In  this  context,  proceedings  in  criminal  matters  is  an  autonomous 
concept  of  Union  law  interpreted  by  the  Court  of  Justice  of  the  European  Union, 
notwithstanding  the  case  law  of  the  European  Court  of  Human  Rights.  The  term 
covers  all  types  of  freezing  and  confiscation  orders  issued  following  proceedings  in 
relation to a criminal offence. It also covers other types of orders issued without a final 
conviction.  Proceedings 
in  criminal  matters  could  also  encompass  criminal 
investigations  by  the  police  and  other  law  enforcement  authorities.  It  is  necessary  to 
reinforce  the  capacity  of  competent  authorities  to  deprive  criminals  of  the  proceeds 
from criminal activities. For this purpose, rules should be laid down to strengthen asset 
tracing and identification, as well as freezing capabilities, to improve management of 
frozen  and  confiscated  property,  to  strengthen  the  instruments  to  confiscate 
instrumentalities and proceeds of crime and property derived from criminal activities 
of criminal organisations, and to improve the overall efficiency of the asset recovery 
system.  

(6)  Moreover, the adoption of unprecedented and far-reaching Union restrictive measures 
triggered by the Russian invasion into Ukraine revealed the need to step up efforts to 
ensure the effective implementation of both sectorial and individual Union restrictive 
measures  across  the  Union.  While  not  criminal  in  nature,  nor  requiring  criminal 
conduct as a pre-condition for their imposition, Union restrictive measures also rely on 
freezing of funds (i.e. targeted financial sanctions) and sectorial measures, and should 
thus benefit from strengthened capabilities in the context of identification and tracing 
of  property.  For  such  purpose,  rules  should  be  established  to  enhance  the  effective 
identification  and  tracing  of  property  owned  or  controlled  by  persons  and  entities 
subject to such restrictive measures, and to promote greater international cooperation 
of asset recovery offices with their counterparts in third countries. Measures related to 
freezing  and  confiscation  under  this  Directive,  notably  those  under  Chapters  III  and 
IV,  remain  however  limited  to  situations  where  property  stems  from  criminal 
activities, such as the violation of Union  restrictive measures. This Directive does not 
regulate  the  freezing  of  funds  and  economic  resources  under  Union  restrictive 
measures. 

(7)  Measures  aiming  at  increasing  capabilities  of  tracing  and  identification  of  relevant 
property in relation to persons or entities subject to Union restrictive measures, as well 

19 

20 

21 

Directive 2014/42/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the freezing 
and  confiscation  of  instrumentalities  and  proceeds  of  crime  in  the  European  Union  (OJ  L  127, 
29.4.2014, p. 39). 
Council Decision 2007/845/JHA of 6 December 2007 concerning cooperation between  asset recovery 
offices  of  the  Member  States  in  the  field  of  tracing  and  identification  of  proceeds  from,  or  other 
property related to, crime (OJ L 332, 18.12.2007, p. 103). 
Council  Framework  Decision  2005/212/JHA  of  24  February  2005  on  Confiscation  of  Crime-Related 
Proceeds, Instrumentalities and Property (OJ L 68, 15.3.2005, p. 49). 

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(8) 

(9) 

as complementary measures to ensure that such property is not transferred or hidden to 
evade  Union  restrictive  measures,  contribute  to  the  prevention  and  detection  of 
possible  violation  of  Union  restrictive  measures  and  enhanced  cross-border 
cooperation in investigations into possible criminal offences. 

The  rules  should  facilitate  cross-border  cooperation  by  providing  the  competent 
authorities with the necessary powers and resources to respond in a swift and effective 
way to requests from authorities in other Member States. Provisions laying down rules 
on  early  tracing  and  identification,  urgent  action  to  freeze,  or  efficient  management 
contribute to  improving the possibilities for asset recovery  across borders. Given the 
global nature of in particular organised crime, cooperation with third countries should 
also be strengthened. 

Due to the poly-criminal nature of and the systemic and profit-oriented cooperation of 
criminal organisations involved in a wide range of illicit activities in different markets, 
an  effective  fight  against  organised  crime  requires  that  freezing  and  confiscation 
measures  are  available  to  cover  the  profits  from  all  offences  where  organised  crime 
groups  are  active  in.  These  crimes  include  the  areas  of  crime  listed  in  Article  83(1), 
including the illicit trafficking in weapons, munitions and explosives as defined in the 
Protocol against the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and 
components  and  ammunition,  supplementing  the  United  Nations  Convention  against 
transnational  organized crime, to  which the Union is  party.  In addition  to  the crimes 
listed in Article 83(1), the scope of the Directive should also cover all crimes that are 
harmonised  at  EU  level,  including  frauds  against  the  financial  interests  of  the 
European Union in light of the increasing involvement of organised criminal groups in 
such  crime  area.  The  scope  of  the  Directive  should  further  include  environmental 
crimes,  which  are  a  core  business  for  organised  criminal  groups  and  are  often 
connected to money laundering or concern waste and residues produced in the context 
of  drug  production  and  trafficking.  The  facilitation  of  unauthorized  entry  and 
residence  constitute  a  core  business  for  organised  criminal  groups  and  is  typically 
connected to the trafficking in human beings.  

(10)  Other  crimes  committed  within  the  framework  of  a  criminal  organisation  play  a 
pivotal  role  in  generating  revenues  and  in  enabling  further  crimes,  including  serious 
crimes with a cross-border nature. Such crimes should be included in the scope of the 
Directive  to  the  extent  to  which  they  are  committed  within  the  framework  of  a 
criminal  organisation.  The  counterfeiting  and  piracy  of  products  is  linked  to  money 
laundering and the forgery of documents,  and threatens the  functioning  of the single 
market  and  fair  competition.  The  illicit  trafficking  in  cultural  goods,  including 
antiques and works of art, is often intertwined with money laundering and constitutes 
an  important  source  of  financing  for  organised  criminal  groups.  Forgery  of 
administrative  documents  and  trafficking  therein,  including  bank  documents  or 
identification  documents,  is  a  key  enabling  tool  for  money  laundering,  trafficking  in 
human beings,  or migrant  smuggling, and should as such be covered in  the scope of 
this  Directive.  Other  crimes  which  are  often  carried  out  within  the  framework  of  an 
organised  crime  group  include  murder  or  grievous  bodily  harm,  as  well  as  the  illicit 
trade in human organs and tissue, which are a source of revenue for organised crime 
groups  in  the  context  of  contract  killings,  intimidation  and  trafficking  in  human 
beings. Similarly kidnapping, illegal restraint or hostage taking, as well as racketeering 
and extortion, are utilized either as source of revenue through the collection of ransom 
money or as intimidation tactics against adversaries. The crime of organised or armed 
robbery  is  one  of  the  most  common  forms  to  generate  profits  for  organised  criminal 

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(11) 

(12) 

(13) 

groups,  and  it  is  often  committed  in  conjunction  with  other  crimes,  in  particular  the 
trafficking  in  firearms.  Similarly,  the  trafficking  in  stolen  vehicles  cannot  only 
generate  profits  but  also  represents  an  enabling  crime  to  provide  for  the  necessary 
instrumentalities  to  carry  out  further  offences.  In  addition,  it  is  key  to  include  tax 
crimes to the extent it is committed as part of a criminal organisation in the scope of 
the Directive, as this specific crime is  an enabling source of profits, especially when 
operating in a cross-border context. Typical techniques employed to commit tax fraud 
or  evasion  consist  of  making  use  of  cross-border  corporate  structures  or  similar 
arrangements  to  fraudulently  obtain  tax  benefits  and  refunds,  hide  assets  or  profits, 
merge legal with illicit profits and assets or to transfer them to other entities abroad to 
disguise their origins or (beneficial) ownership. 

[In  order  to  ensure  the  effective  implementation  of  Union  restrictive  measures,  it  is 
necessary  to  extend  the  scope  of  the  Directive  to  the  violation  of  Union  restrictive 
measures].  

In  order  to  capture  property  which  might  be  transformed  and  transferred  in  order  to 
conceal  its  origin,  and  in  order  to  ensure  harmonisation  and  clarity  of  definitions 
across the Union, property that can be subject to freezing and confiscation should be 
defined  broadly.  It  should  cover  legal  documents  or  instruments  evidencing  title  or 
interest  in  property  subject  to  freezing  and  confiscation  including,  for  example, 
financial  instruments,  or  documents  that  may  give  rise  to  creditor  claims  and  are 
normally found in the possession of the person affected by the relevant procedures, as 
well as trusts. This  Directive is  without prejudice to  the existing national  procedures 
for keeping legal documents or instruments evidencing title or interest in property, as 
they are applied by the competent national authorities or public bodies in accordance 
with national law. The definition should cover all forms of property, including crypto 
assets. 

In  order  to  capture  property  which  might  be  transformed  and  transferred  in  order  to 
conceal  its  origin,  and  in  order  to  ensure  harmonisation  and  clarity  of  definitions 
across the  Union, a broad definition of proceeds  of crime should be provided for, to 
include the direct  proceeds from  criminal  activity and  all indirect  benefits, including 
subsequent  reinvestment  or  transformation  of  direct  proceeds,  in  line  with  the 
definitions  of  Regulation  (EU)  2018/1805  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council22. Thus proceeds  should include any property including that which has  been 
transformed or converted, fully or in part, into other property, and that which has been 
intermingled with property acquired from legitimate sources, up to the assessed value 
of  the  intermingled  proceeds.  It  should  also  include  the  income  or  other  benefits 
derived  from  proceeds  of  crime,  or  from  property  into  or  with  which  such  proceeds 
have been transformed, converted or intermingled. 

(14) 

In  order  to  facilitate  cross-border  cooperation,  the  tracing  and  identification  of 
property at an early stage of a criminal investigation is of essence to ensure the prompt 
identification of instrumentalities, proceeds, or property, which might be subsequently 
confiscated,  including  property  related  to  criminal  activities  located  in  other 
jurisdictions.  To  ensure  that  financial  investigations  are  sufficiently  prioritised  in  all 
Member States, so to address a crime of cross-border nature, it is necessary to require 

22 

Regulation (EU) 2018/1805 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 on 
the mutual recognition of freezing orders and confiscation orders (OJ L 303, 28.11.2018, p. 1). 

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competent authorities to launch asset tracing from the moment there is a suspicion of 
criminal activities that are likely to generate substantial economic benefits.  

(15) 

Investigations to trace and identify property should also be launched where necessary 
to  prevent,  detect  or  investigate  criminal  offences  related  to  the  violation  of  Union 
restrictive measures. For that purpose, asset recovery offices should be empowered to 
trace and identify property of persons or entities subject to targeted financial sanctions. 
Once  property  is  identified  asset  recovery  offices  should  have  the  power  to 
temporarily freeze the property to ensure that property does not disappear. 

(16)  Due  to  the  transnational  nature  of  finances  used  by  organised  criminal  groups, 
information  that  can  lead  to  the  identification  of  instrumentalities  and  proceeds  of 
crime  and  other  property  owned  or  controlled  by  criminals  or  by  persons  or  entities 
subject  to  Union  restrictive  measures  should  be  exchanged  rapidly  between  the 
Member States. For that purpose, it is necessary to empower asset recovery offices to 
trace  and  identify  property  which  might  be  subsequently  confiscated,  to  ensure  they 
have access to the necessary information under clear conditions, and to establish rules 
on swiftly exchanging information with each other, spontaneously or upon request. In 
urgent cases where there is a risk of dissipation of the property, replies to information 
should be done as soon as possible and not later than 8 hours. 

(17) 

In  order  to  perform  effective  asset  tracing  investigations,  and  to  swiftly  respond  to 
cross-border requests, asset recovery offices should have access to the information that 
allows  them  to  establish  the  existence,  ownership  or  control  of  property  that  may 
become object of a freezing or a confiscation order. Therefore, asset recovery offices 
should  have  access  to  the  relevant  data  such  as  fiscal  data,  national  citizenship  and 
population  registries,  commercial  databases  and  social  security  information.  This 
should include law enforcement information in so far as data such as criminal records, 
vehicles  stops,  property  searches  and  previous  legal  actions  such  as  freezing  and 
confiscation  orders  or  seizures  of  cash  can  be  of  value  to  identify  relevant  property. 
Access to information should be subject to specific safeguards that prevent the misuse 
of  the  access  rights.  These  safeguards  should  be  without  prejudice  to  Article  25  of 
Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council23. The direct 
and  immediate  access  to  this  information  does  not  prevent  Member  States  from 
making  access  subject  to  procedural  safeguards  as  established  under  national  law 
while  taking  due  account  of  the  need  for  asset  recovery  offices  to  be  able  to  swiftly 
reply  to  cross-border  requests.  The  implementation  of  the  procedural  safeguards  for 
access to databases should not affect the ability of asset recovery offices to respond to 
requests  from  other  Member  States,  especially  in  case  of  urgent  requests.  Access  to 
relevant  databases  and  registries  under  this  Directive  should  complement  access  to 
bank  account  information  pursuant  to  Directive  (EU)  2019/1153  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council24  and  to  beneficial  ownership  information  pursuant  to 
Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council25. 

23 

24 

Directive  (EU)  2016/680  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  27  April  2016  on  the 
protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for 
the  purposes  of  the  prevention,  investigation,  detection  or  prosecution  of  criminal  offences  or  the 
execution  of  criminal  penalties,  and  on  the  free  movement  of  such  data,  and  repealing  Council 
Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 89). 
Directive (EU) 2019/1153 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 laying down 
rules facilitating the use of financial and other information for the prevention, detection, investigation or 

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(18)  To  ensure  the  security  of  the  information  shared  between  asset  recovery  offices,  the 
use of the Secure Information Exchange Network Application  (SIENA), managed by 
Europol  in  accordance  with  Regulation  (EU)  2016/794  of  the  European  Parliament 
and  of  the  Council26,  should  be  mandatory  for  all  communications  among  asset 
recovery  offices  under  this  Directive.  Therefore,  in  order  to  be  able  to  fulfil  all  the 
tasks  assigned  by  this  Directive,  all  asset  recovery  offices  should  be  able  to  directly 
access SIENA.  

(19)  Freezing and confiscation under this Directive are autonomous concepts, which should 
not prevent Member States from implementing this Directive using instruments which, 
in  accordance  with  national  law,  would  be  considered  as  sanctions  or  other  types  of 
measures.  

(20)  Confiscation  leads  to  the  final  deprivation  of  property.  However,  preservation  of 
property  can  be  a  prerequisite  to  confiscation  and  is  often  essential  for  the  effective 
enforcement  of  a  confiscation  order.  Property  is  preserved  by  means  of  freezing.  In 
order to prevent the dissipation of property before a freezing order can be issued, the 
competent  authorities  in  the  Member  States,  including  asset  recovery  offices,  should 
be empowered to take immediate action in order to secure such property.  

(21)  Given  the  limitation  on  the  right  to  property  imposed  by  freezing  orders,  such 
provisional measures should not be maintained longer than necessary to  preserve the 
availability of the property with a view to possible subsequent confiscation. This may 
require a review by the national court in order to ensure that the purpose of preventing 
the dissipation of property remains valid. 

(22)  Freezing  measures  should  be  without  prejudice  to  the  possibility  for  a  specific 
property to be considered evidence throughout the proceedings, provided that it would 
ultimately be made available for effective  execution of the confiscation order.  In the 
context  of  criminal  proceedings,  property  may  also  be  frozen  with  a  view  to  its 
possible subsequent restitution or in order to safeguard compensation for the damage 
caused by a criminal offence. 

(23) 

In addition to confiscation measures that allow authorities to deprive criminals of the 
proceeds  or  instrumentalities  directly  stemming  from  crimes,  following  a  final 
conviction,  it  is  necessary  to  enable  confiscation  of  property  of  equivalent  value  to 
such proceeds or instrumentalities in order to capture property of equivalent value to 
the proceeds and instrumentalities of a crime, whenever it is impossible to locate such 
proceeds  and  instrumentalities.  Member  States  are  free  to  define  the  confiscation  of 
property  of  equivalent  value  as  subsidiary  or  alternative  to  direct  confiscation,  as 
appropriate in accordance with national law.  

(24)  The practice by a suspected or accused person of transferring property or proceeds to a 
knowing third party with a view to avoiding confiscation is common and widespread. 

25 

26 

prosecution  of  certain  criminal  offences,  and  repealing  Council  Decision  2000/642/JHA  (OJ  L  186, 
11.7.2019, p. 122). 
Directive  (EU)  2015/849  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  20  May  2015  on  the 
prevention  of  the  use  of  the  financial  system  for  the  purposes  of  money  laundering  or  terrorist 
financing, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/843 (OJ L 141 5.6.2015, p. 73). 
Regulation  (EU)  2016/794  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11  May  2016  on  the 
European  Union  Agency  for  Law  Enforcement  Cooperation  (Europol)  and  replacing  and  repealing 
Council  Decisions  2009/371/JHA,  2009/934/JHA,  2009/935/JHA,  2009/936/JHA  and  2009/968/JHA 
(OJ L 135, 24.5.2016, p. 53). 

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Acquisition by a third party refers to situations where, for example, property has been 
acquired, directly or indirectly, for example through an intermediary, by the third party 
from  a  suspected  or  accused  person,  including  when  the  criminal  offence  has  been 
committed on their behalf or for their benefit, and when an accused person does  not 
have  property  that  can  be  confiscated.  Such  confiscation  should  be  possible  in  cases 
where it has been established that third parties knew or ought to have known that the 
purpose  of  the  transfer  or  acquisition  was  to  avoid  confiscation,  on  the  basis  of 
concrete  facts  and  circumstances,  including  that  the  transfer  was  carried  out  free  of 
charge  or  in  exchange  for  an  amount  significantly  lower  than  the  market  value.  The 
rules  on  third  party  confiscation  should  extend  to  both  natural  and  legal  persons, 
without prejudice to the right of third parties to be heard, including the right to claim 
ownership of the property concerned. In any event, the rights of bona fide third parties 
should not be affected. 

(25)  Criminal  organisations  engage  in  a  wide  range  of  criminal  activities.  In  order  to 
effectively  tackle  organised  criminal  activities,  there  may  be  situations  where  it  is 
appropriate that a criminal conviction for a criminal offence that is liable to give rise to 
economic benefits be followed by the confiscation not only of property associated with 
a  specific  crime,  including  proceeds  of  crime  or  its  instrumentalities,  but  also  of 
additional  property  which  the  court  determines  as  being  derived  from  criminal 
conduct.  

(26)  Confiscation  should  also  be  possible  where  a  court 

that 

is  satisfied 

the 
instrumentalities,  proceeds,  or  property  in  question  is  derived  from  criminal  conduct  
but where a final conviction is not possible because of illness, absconding or death of 
the suspected or accused person, or because the suspected or accused person cannot be 
held  liable because of immunity or amnesty as  provided for under national  law. The 
same  should  be  possible  where  the  time  limits  prescribed  under  national  law  have 
expired,  where  such  time  limits  are  not  sufficiently  long  to  allow  for  the  effective 
investigation  and  prosecution  of  the  relevant  criminal  offences.  Confiscation  in  such 
cases should only be allowed where the national court is satisfied that all the elements 
of  the  offence  are  present.  For  reasons  of  proportionality,  confiscating  property 
without a prior conviction should be limited to cases of serious crimes. The right of the 
defendant  to  be  made  aware  of  the  proceeding  and  to  be  represented  by  a  lawyer 
should not be affected. 

(27)  For the purposes of this Directive, illness should be understood to mean the inability 
of the suspected or accused person to attend the criminal proceedings for an extended 
period, as a result of which the proceedings cannot continue.  

(28)  Due to the intrinsically opaque nature of organised crime, it is not always possible to 
link  property  derived  from  criminal  activities  to  a  specific  criminal  offence  and 
confiscate  such  property.  In  such  situations,  confiscation  should  be  possible  under 
certain conditions including in particular: the property is frozen based on suspicion of 
crimes  committed  within  the  framework  of  a  criminal  organisation,  these  criminal 
offences  are  liable  to  give  rise  to  substantial  economic  benefits  and  the  court  is 
satisfied that the frozen property is derived from criminal activities carried out within 
the  framework  of  a  criminal  organisation.  These  conditions  should  ensure  that 
confiscation of property not linked to a specific offence for which the owner has been 
convicted is limited to criminal activities of criminal organisations that are serious in 
nature  and  liable  to  generate  substantial  benefits.  When  determining  whether  the 
offences are liable to give rise to significant benefits, Member States should take into 
account  all  relevant  circumstances  of  the  offence,  including  whether  the  criminal 

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activities  were  committed  with  the  intention  to  generate  regular  substantial  profits. 
While  it  should  not  be  a  precondition  for  the  national  court  to  be  satisfied  that  a 
criminal offence has been committed, the court must be satisfied that the property in 
question  is  derived  from  criminal  offences.  When  determining  whether  or  not  the 
property  in  question  derived  from  criminal  activities,  the  national  courts  should  take 
into account all relevant circumstances of the case, including the fact that the property 
is  substantially  disproportionate  to  the  lawful  income  of  the  owner.  Member  States 
should then require and award an effective possibility for the owner of the property to 
prove that the property in question derives from lawful activities. 

(29)  To  ensure  that  property  that  is  or  may  become  subject  to  a  freezing  or  confiscation 
order  maintains  its  economic  value  Member  States  should  put  in  place  effective 
management measures. Such measures should include a systematic assessment of how 
to  best  preserve  and  optimise  the  value  of  property  before  the  adoption  of  freezing 
measures, also known as pre-seizure planning.  

(30) 

In  circumstances  where  the  property  frozen  is  perishable,  rapidly  depreciating,  or 
whose  maintenance  costs  are  disproportionate  to  its  expected  value  at  the  time  of 
confiscation,  or  that  is  too  difficult  to  administer  or  is  easily  replaceable,  Member 
States  should  allow  for  the  sale  of  this  property.  Before  taking  such  a  decision,  the 
owner  of  the  property  should  have  the  right  to  be  heard.  Member  States  should 
consider  the  possibility  to  charge  the  costs  of  the  management  of  frozen  property  to 
the beneficial owner, for instance in alternative to the ordering of an interlocutory sale, 
and in case of final conviction. These rules, including the possibility for the costs for 
the  management  of  frozen  property  to  be  charged  to  the  beneficial  owner,  apply  to 
property identified in the context of the implementation of Union restrictive measures 
to  the  extent  that  they  have  been  frozen  in  relation  to  criminal  charges,  such  as 
violation of Union restrictive measures.  

(31)  Member  States  should  set  up  asset  management  offices  with  the  purpose  of 
establishing  specialised  authorities  tasked  with  the  management  of  frozen  and 
confiscated  property  in  order  to  effectively  manage  the  property  frozen  before 
confiscation  and  preserve  its  value,  pending  a  final  decision  on  the  confiscation. 
Without  prejudice  to  the  Member  States’  internal  administrative  structures,  asset 
management offices should either be the sole authority managing frozen or confiscated 
property,  or  should  provide  support  to  decentralised  actors  according  to  national 
management set-ups, and support relevant authorities with pre-seizure planning.  

(32)  This Directive respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognized 
by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’) and the 
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 
(‘the ECHR’), as interpreted in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. 
This Directive should be implemented in accordance with those rights and principles. 

(33)  Freezing  and  confiscation  orders  substantially  affect  the  rights  of  suspected  and 
accused persons, and in  specific cases of third parties  who are not  being  prosecuted. 
The Directive should provide for specific safeguards and judicial remedies in order to 
guarantee  the  protection  of  their  fundamental  rights  in  the  implementation  of  this 
Directive in line with the right to a fair trial, the right to an effective remedy and the 
presumption  of  innocence  as  enshrined  in  Articles  47  and  48  of  the  Charter  of 
Fundamental Rights of the European Union.  

(34)  Freezing, confiscation, and interlocutory sales orders should be communicated to the 
affected party without delay. The purpose of communicating those orders is, inter alia, 

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to  allow  the  affected  person  to  challenge  them  before  a  court.  Therefore,  such 
communications should, as a general rule, indicate the reason or reasons for the order 
concerned.  The  affected  party  should  have  the  effective  possibility  to  challenge  the 
freezing, confiscation, and interlocutory sales orders. In the case of confiscation orders 
where  all  elements  of  the  criminal  offence  are  present  but  a  criminal  conviction  is 
impossible, the defendant should have a possibility to be heard before the adoption of 
the order. The same possibility should be provided for the owner affected by an order 
to sell the property before confiscation. 

(35)  When  implementing  this  Directive,  and  in  order  to  ensure  the  proportionality  of 
confiscation measures, Member States should provide that confiscation of property is 
not  ordered  to  the  extent  it  would  be  disproportionate  to  the  offence  in  question. 
Furthermore,  Member  States  should  provide  for  the  possibility  that,  in  exceptional 
circumstances,  confiscation  is  not  ordered,  insofar  as  it  would,  in  accordance  with 
national  law,  represent  undue  hardship  for  the  affected  person,  on  the  basis  of  the 
circumstances  of  the  respective  individual  case  which  should  be  decisive.  Such 
exceptional  circumstances  should  be  limited  to  cases  where  it  would  put  the  person 
concerned in a situation in which it would be very difficult for the affected person to 
survive and the circumstances of the respective individual case should be decisive. 

(36)  This Directive should be implemented without prejudice to  Directive 2010/64/EU of 
the European Parliament and of the Council27, Directive 2012/13/EU of the European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council28,  Directive  2012/29/EU  of  the  European  Parliament 
and  of  the  Council29,  Directive  2013/48/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council30,  Directive  (EU)  2016/343/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council31,  Directive  2016/800/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council32  
and Directive (EU) 2016/1919 of the European Parliament and of the Council .33  

(37) 

It  is  particularly  important  that  the  protection  of  personal  data,  in  accordance  with 
Union law, is ensured in connection to processing of data under this Directive. To that 
aim,  the  rules  of  this  Directive  should  be  aligned  with  Directive  (EU)  2016/680.  In 
particular, it should be specified that any personal data exchanged by Asset Recovery 
Offices  is  to  remain  limited  to  the  categories  of  data  listed  in  Section  B  point  2,  of 
Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2016/794 of the European Parliament and of the Council. 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

Directive 2010/64/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the right to 
interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings (OJ L 280, 26.10.2010, p. 1). 
Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 on the right to 
information in criminal proceedings (OJ L 142, 1.6.2012, p. 1). 
Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing 
minimum  standards  on  the  rights,  support  and  protection  of  victims  of  crime,  and  replacing  Council 
Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA (OJ L 315, 14.11.2012, p. 57). 
Directive 2013/48/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 on the right of 
access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and in European arrest warrant proceedings, and on the right 
to have a third party informed upon deprivation of liberty and to communicate with third persons and 
with consular authorities while deprived of liberty (OJ L 294, 6.11.2013, p. 1). 
Directive  (EU)  2016/343  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  9  March  2016  on  the 
strengthening  of  certain  aspects  of  the  presumption  of  innocence  and  of  the  right  to  be present  at  the 
trial in criminal proceedings (OJ L 65, 11.3.2016, p. 1). 
Directive (EU) 2016/800 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on procedural 
safeguards  for  children  who  are  suspects  or  accused  persons  in  criminal  proceedings  (OJ  L  132, 
21.5.2016, p. 1). 
Directive (EU) 2016/1919 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on legal 
aid  for  suspects  and  accused  persons  in  criminal  proceedings  and  for  requested  persons  in  European 
arrest warrant proceedings (OJ L 297, 4.11.2016, p. 1). 

EN 

24 

  EN 

                                                 
(38) 

Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council applies to the 
processing of personal data by national competent authorities, notably asset recovery 
offices, for the purposes of this Directive. 

It  is  particularly  important  that  the  protection  of  personal  data,  in  accordance  with 
Union  law,  is  ensured  in  connection  to  all  exchanges  of  information  under  this 
Directive. To that aim, insofar as the processing of personal data for the purposes of 
the  prevention,  investigation,  detection  or  prosecution  of  criminal  offences  or  the 
execution  of  criminal  penalties  is  concerned,  data  protection  rules  as  set  out  in 
Directive  (EU)  2016/680  are  applicable  in  relation  to  measures  taken  under  this 
Directive. Where relevant, notably having regard to the processing of personal data by 
asset  management  offices  for  the  purpose  of  the  management  of  property,  the  data 
protection rules set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and 
of the Council are applicable.  

(39)  An effective recovery system requires concerted efforts of a wide range of authorities, 
from law enforcement, including customs authorities, tax authorities and tax recovery 
authorities  to  the  extent  that  they  are  competent  for  asset  recovery,  asset  recovery 
offices,  judicial  authorities  and  asset  management  authorities,  including  asset 
management  offices.  In  order  to  ensure  coordinated  action  by  all  competent 
authorities, it is necessary to establish a more strategic approach to asset recovery and 
promote a  greater cooperation between the  relevant  authorities, and to  obtain a clear 
overview  of  the  results  of  asset  recovery.  For  this  purpose,  Member  States  should 
adopt  and  regularly  review  a  national  strategy  on  asset  recovery  to  guide  actions  in 
relation to financial investigations, freezing and confiscation, management as well as 
final  disposal  of  the  relevant  instrumentalities,  proceeds,  or  property.  Furthermore, 
Member States should provide competent  authorities  with  the necessary  resources to 
be able to fulfil their tasks effectively. Competent authorities should be understood as 
the  authorities  entrusted  with  the  carrying  out  of  the  tasks  as  outlined  under  this 
Directive and according to national set-ups.  

(40) 

In  order  to  evaluate  the  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of  the  asset  recovery,  asset 
management  and  confiscation  framework,  it  is  necessary  to  collect  and  publish  a 
comparable  set  of  statistical  data  on  freezing,  management  and  confiscation  of 
property.  

(41)  To ensure consistent approaches among Member States in the collection of statistics, 
the  power  to  adopt  acts  in  accordance  with  Article  290  of  the  TFEU  should  be 
delegated to the Commission to supplement this Directive by adopting more detailed 
rules on the information to be collected and the methodology for the collection of the 
statistics.  

(42) 

It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations 
during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be 
conducted  in  accordance  with  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  Interinstitutional 
Agreement  of  13  April  2016  on  Better  Law-Making34.  In  particular,  to  ensure  equal 
participation  in  the  preparation  of  delegated  acts,  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council receive all documents at  the same time as  Member States' experts,  and their 
experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing 
with the preparation of delegated acts. 

34 

OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1. 

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25 

  EN 

                                                 
(43)  To  provide  a  more  comprehensive  overview  of  the  action  taken  to  freeze  and 
confiscate, Member States should establish a central register of frozen, managed and 
confiscated instrumentalities, proceeds, or property, and collect the necessary statistics 
on  the  implementation  of  the  relevant  measures.  Centralised  registries  of  frozen  and 
confiscated  instrumentalities,  proceeds,  or  property  should  be  established  at  national 
level  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  management  of  the  specific  file.  The  aim  of 
establishing centralised registries is to assist all the relevant authorities responsible for 
the  recovery  of  criminal  property  with  an  accessible  record  of  the  property  which  is 
frozen,  confiscated,  or  under  management,  from  the  moment  it  is  frozen  until  it  is 
returned to the owner or it is disposed of. Information entered in the registries should 
be retained only for as long as it is necessary for the purposes of management of the 
specific  case,  or  for  the  purposes  of  gathering  statistical  data  collection.  For  case 
management purposes, it should not be kept for longer than after the final disposal of 
the property following a confiscation order, or after its return to the owner in case of 
acquittal.  Access  to  the  information  recorded  in  the  centralised  registries  should  be 
given  only  to  authorities  responsible  for  the  recovery  of  criminal  property,  such  as 
asset  recovery  offices,  asset  management  offices,  national  courts  or  otherwise 
appointed authorities according to national dispositions.  

(44)  Organised criminal groups operate across borders and increasingly acquire property in 
Member States other than those in which they are based and in third countries. Given 
the  transnational  dimension  of  organised  crime,  international  cooperation  is  of  the 
essence to recover the profits and confiscate the financial assets that allow criminals to 
operate.  Member  States  should  therefore  ensure  that  both  asset  recovery  and  asset 
management  offices  cooperate  closely  with  their  counterparts  in  third  countries  to 
trace,  identify  and  manage  instrumentalities  and  proceeds,  or  property  which  may 
become  or  is  the  object  of  a  freezing  or  confiscation  order  within  the  framework  of 
proceedings in criminal matters. Moreover, for the effective implementation of Union 
restrictive  measures,  it  is  of  paramount  importance  for  asset  recovery  offices  to 
cooperate with their counterparts in third countries where necessary to prevent, detect 
or investigate criminal offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures. 
In  that  regard,  Member  States  should  ensure  that  asset  recovery  offices  establish 
working arrangements with their counterparts in those third countries with which there 
is  an  operational  cooperation  agreement  in  place  that  allows  for  the  exchange  of 
operational personal data with Europol or Eurojust.  

(45)  Asset  recovery  offices  should  also  closely  cooperate  with  EU  bodies  and  agencies, 
including  Europol,  Eurojust  and  the  European  Public  Prosecutor’s  Office,  in 
accordance  with  their  respective  mandates,  insofar  as  it  is  necessary  to  trace  and 
identify  property  within  the  cross-border  investigations  supported  by  Europol  and 
Eurojust or within the investigations undertaken by the European Public Prosecutor’s 
Office.  Asset  recovery  offices  should  also  cooperate  with  Europol  and  Eurojust,  in 
accordance  with  their  respective  mandates,  insofar  as  it  is  necessary  to  trace  and 
identify  property  to  prevent,  detect  or  investigate  criminal  offences  related  to  the 
violation of Union restrictive measures. 

(46) 

In order to  ensure that there is a common understanding and minimum standards for 
asset  tracing  and  identification,  freezing  and  management,  this  Directive  should  lay 
down  minimum  rules  for  the  relevant  measures  as  well  as  related  safeguards.  The 
adoption  of  minimum  rules  does  not  prevent  Member  States  from  granting  more 
extensive  powers  to  asset  recovery  offices  or  to  asset  management  offices,  or  to 

EN 

26 

  EN 

provide  for  additional  safeguards  under  national  law,  provided  that  such  national 
measures and provisions do not undermine the objective of this Directive. 

(47)  Since  the  objective  of  this  Directive,  namely  facilitating  confiscation  of  property  in 
criminal matters, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather 
be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with 
the principle of subsidiarity  as set  out  in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union 
(TEU).  In accordance with  the principle of proportionality, as  set  out  in that  Article, 
this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective. 

(48)  As this Directive provides for a comprehensive set of rules, which would overlap with 
already  existing 
it  should  replace  Council  Joint  Action 
98/699/JHA35,  Council  Framework  Decision  2001/500/JHA36,  Framework  Decision 
2005/212/JHA, Decision 2007/845/JHA, and Directive 2014/42/EU with regard to the 
Member States bound by this Directive. 

instruments, 

legal 

(49) 

(50) 

In  accordance  with  Articles  1  and  2  of  Protocol  No  22  on  the  position  of  Denmark 
annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty of the Functioning of the 
European  Union, Denmark is  not  taking part in  the adoption of this  Directive and is 
not bound by it or subject to its application. 

[In  accordance  with  Article  3  of  Protocol  No  21  on  the  position  of  the  United 
Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed 
to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union, Ireland has notified its wish to take part in the adoption and application of this 
Directive.] [or] [In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No 21 on the position 
of  the  United  Kingdom  and  Ireland  in  respect  of  the  area  of  freedom,  security  and 
justice, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning 
of the European Union, and without prejudice to Article 4 of that Protocol, Ireland is 
not taking part in the adoption of this Directive and is not bound by it or subject to its 
application.] 

(51)  The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance with Article 42 

of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 and delivered an opinion on XX/XX/20XX. 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

CHAPTER I  
GENERAL PROVISIONS 

35 

36 

Joint Action 98/699/JHA of 3 December 1998 adopted by the Council on the basis of Article K.3 of the 
Treaty  on  European  Union,  on  money  laundering,  the  identification,  tracing,  freezing,  seizing  and 
confiscation of instrumentalities and the proceeds from crime (OJ L 333, 9.12.1998, p.1). 
Council  Framework  Decision  of  26  June  2001  on  money  laundering,  the  identification,  tracing, 
freezing, seizing and confiscation of instrumentalities and the proceeds of crime (OJ L 182, 5.7.2001, p. 
1). 

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27 

  EN 

 
 
                                                 
Article 1  

Subject matter  

1.  This  Directive  establishes  minimum  rules  on  the  tracing  and  identification,  freezing, 
confiscation,  and  management  of  property  within  the  framework  of  proceedings  in  criminal 
matters. 

2.  This  Directive  also  establishes  rules  to  facilitate  the  effective  implementation  of  Union 
restrictive  measures  and  the  subsequent  recovery  of  related  property  where  necessary  to 
prevent,  detect  or  investigate  criminal  offences  related  to  the  violation  of  Union  restrictive 
measures. 

Article 2  

Scope 

1. This Directive shall apply to the following criminal offences: 

(a)  participation  in  a  criminal  organisation,  as  defined  in  Council  Framework  Decision 
2008/841/JHA37; 

(b) terrorism,  as defined in  Directive (EU) 2017/541 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council38; 

(c)  trafficking  in  human  beings,  as  defined  in  Directive  2011/36/EU  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council39; 

(d) sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, as defined in Directive 2011/93/EU 
of the European Parliament and of the Council40; 

(e)  illicit  trafficking  in  narcotic  drugs  and  psychotropic  substances,  as  defined  in  Council 
Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA41; 

(f) corruption, as defined in the Convention drawn up on the basis of Article K.3(2)(c) of the 
Treaty on European Union on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European 

37 

38 

39 

40 

41 

Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA of 24 October 2008 on the fight against organised crime 
(OJ L 300, 11.11.2008, p. 42). 
Directive  (EU)  2017/541  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  15  March  2017  on 
combating terrorism and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA and amending Council 
Decision 2005/671/JHA (OJ L 88, 31.3.2017, p. 6). 
Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on preventing and 
combating  trafficking  in  human  beings  and  protecting  its  victims,  and  replacing  Council  Framework 
Decision 2002/629/JHA (OJ L 101, 15.4.2011, p. 1). 
Directive  2011/93/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  13  December  2011  on 
combating  the  sexual  abuse  and  sexual  exploitation  of  children  and  child  pornography,  and  replacing 
Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA (OJ L 335, 17.12.2011, p. 1). 
Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA of 25 October 2004 laying down minimum provisions on 
the constituent elements of criminal acts and penalties in the field of illicit drug trafficking (OJ L 335, 
11.11.2004, p. 8). 

EN 

28 

  EN 

                                                 
Communities or officials  of the Member States of the European Union42 and in  the Council 
Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA43; 

(g)  money  laundering,  as  defined  in  Directive  (EU)  2018/1673  of  the  European  Parliament 
and of the Council44; 

(h)  forgery  of  means  of  payment,  as  defined  in  Directive  (EU)  2019/713  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council45; 

(i)  counterfeiting  currency,  including  the  euro,  as  defined  in  Directive  2014/62/EU  of  the 
European Parliament and of the Council46; 

(j)  computer-related  crime,  as  defined  in  Directive  2013/40/EU  of  the  European  Parliament 
and of the Council47; 

(k) illicit trafficking in weapons, munitions and explosives, as defined in the Protocol against 
the  illicit  manufacturing  of  and  trafficking  in  firearms,  their  parts  and  components  and 
ammunition,  supplementing  the  United  Nations  Convention  against  transnational  organized 
crime48; 

(l) fraud, including fraud and other criminal offences affecting the Union's financial interests 
as defined in Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council49; 

(m)  environmental  crime,  including  illicit  trafficking  in  endangered  animal  species  and  in 
endangered plant species and varieties as defined in in Directive 2008/99/EC of the European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council50,  as  well  as  offences  related  to  ship  pollution  as  defined  in 
Directive 2005/35/EC as amended by Directive 2009/123/EC51; 

(n)  facilitation  of  unauthorised  entry  and  residence,  as  defined  in  Council  Framework 
Decision 2002/946/JHA52, and Council Directive 2002/90/EC53; 

42 
43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

48 
49 

50 

51 

52 

OJ C 195, 25.6.1997, p. 1. 
Council  Framework  Decision  2003/568/JHA  of  22  July  2003  on  combating  corruption  in  the  private 
sector (OJ L 192, 31.7.2003, p. 54). 
Directive  (EU)  2018/1673  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  October  2018  on 
combating money laundering by criminal law (OJ L 284, 12.11.2018, p. 22). 
Directive (EU) 2019/713 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on combating 
fraud  and  counterfeiting  of  non-cash  means  of  payment  and  replacing  Council  Framework  Decision 
2001/413/JHA (OJ L 123, 10.5.2019, p. 18). 
Directive 2014/62/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the protection 
of the euro and other currencies against counterfeiting by criminal law (OJ L 151, 21.5.2014, p. 1). 
Directive  2013/40/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  12  August  2013  on  attacks 
against  information  systems  and  replacing  Council  Framework  Decision  2005/222/JHA  (OJ  L  218, 
14.8.2013, p. 8). 
OJ L 89, 25.3.2014, p. 7. 
Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2017 on the fight 
against fraud to the Union's financial interests by means of criminal law (OJ L 198, 28.7.2017, p. 29). 
Directive  2008/99/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  19  November  2008  on  the 
protection of the environment through criminal law (OJ L 328, 6.12.2008, p. 28). 
Directive 2009/123/EC of the European Parliament and of  the Council of 21 October 2009 amending 
Directive  2005/35/EC  on  ship-source  pollution  and  on  the  introduction  of  penalties  for  infringements 
(OJ L 280, 27.10.2009, p. 52). 
Council Framework Decision 2002/946/JHA on the strengthening of the penal framework to prevent the 
facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and residence (OJ L 328, 5.12.2002, p. 1). 

EN 

29 

  EN 

                                                 
2.  This  Directive  shall  apply  to  the  following  offences  to  the  extent  that  the  offence  is 
committed within the framework of a criminal organisation:  

(a) counterfeiting and piracy of products; 

(b) illicit trafficking in cultural goods, including antiques and works of art; 

(c) forgery of administrative documents and trafficking therein; 

(d) murder or grievous bodily injury; 

(e) illicit trade in human organs and tissue; 

(f) kidnapping, illegal restraint or hostage-taking; 

(g) organised or armed robbery; 

(h) racketeering and extortion; 

(i) trafficking in stolen vehicles; 

(j) tax crimes relating to direct taxes and indirect taxes and as defined in the national law of 
the Member States, which are punishable by deprivation of liberty or a detention order  of at 
least one year. 

3. [This Directive shall apply to the violation of Union restrictive measures as defined in the 
Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council].  

4. This Directive shall apply to any other criminal offences set out in other Union legal acts if 
they provide specifically that this Directive applies to the criminal offences defined therein.  

5. The provisions on tracing and identification of instrumentalities and proceeds, or property 
in  Chapter  II  shall  apply  to  all  criminal  offences  as  defined  in  national  law  which  are 
punishable by deprivation of liberty or a detention order of at least one year. 

Article 3 

Definitions 

For the purpose of this Directive, the following definitions apply: 

(1) ‘proceeds’ means any economic advantage derived directly or indirectly from a criminal 
offence  consisting  of  any  form  of  property,  and  including  any  subsequent  reinvestment  or 
transformation of direct proceeds and any valuable benefits; 

(2) ‘property’ means property of any description, whether corporeal or incorporeal, movable 
or  immovable,  and  legal  documents  or  instruments  evidencing  title  or  interest  in  such 
property; 

(3) ‘instrumentalities’ means any property used or intended to be used, in any manner, wholly 
or partially, to commit a criminal offence; 

53 

Directive 2002/90/EC defining the  facilitation of  unauthorised entry, transit and residence (OJ L 328, 
5.12.2002, p. 17). 

EN 

30 

  EN 

                                                                                                                                                         
(4) ‘tracing and identification’ means any investigation by competent authorities to determine 
instrumentalities, proceeds, or property that may be derived from criminal activities;   

(5)  ‘freezing’  means  the  temporary  prohibition  of  the  transfer,  destruction,  conversion, 
disposal or movement of property or temporarily assuming custody or control of property;  

(6)  ‘confiscation’  means  a  final  deprivation  of  property  ordered  by  a  court  in  relation  to  a 
criminal offence;  

(7)  ‘SIENA’  means  the  secure  information  exchange  network  application,  managed  by 
Europol,  aimed  at  facilitating  the  exchange  of  information  between  Member  States  and 
Europol; 

(8)  ‘criminal  organisation’  means  a  criminal  organisation  as  defined  in  Article  1  of  the 
Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA; 

(9) ‘victim’ means a victim as defined in Article 2(1), point (a), of Directive 2012/29/EU of 
the European Parliament and of the Council,54 as well as a legal person, as defined in national 
law,  that  has  suffered  harm  as  a  result  of  any  of  the  offences  within  the  scope  of  this 
Directive; 

(10)  ‘beneficial  owner’  means  a  beneficial  owner  as  defined  in  Article  3,  point  (6),  of 
Directive 2015/849/EU55; 

(11) ‘Union  restrictive  measures’ means measures  adopted on the basis  of Article 29 of the 
Treaty on European Union and Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union; 

(12) ‘targeted financial sanctions’ means specific Union restrictive measures directed against 
certain persons or entities adopted on the basis of Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union 
and Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;  

CHAPTER II 

TRACING AND IDENTIFICATION  

Article 4 

Asset tracing investigations 

1.  To  facilitate  cross-border  cooperation,  Member  States  shall  take  measures  to  enable  the 
swift  tracing  and  identification  of  instrumentalities  and  proceeds,  or  property  which  may 
become  or  is  the  object  of  a  freezing  or  confiscation  order  in  the  course  of  criminal 
proceedings.  

54 

55 

Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing 
minimum  standards  on  the  rights,  support  and  protection  of  victims  of  crime,  and  replacing  Council 
Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA. 
Directive  (EU)  2015/849  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  20  May  2015  on  the 
prevention  of  the  use  of  the  financial  system  for  the  purposes  of  money  laundering  or  terrorist 
financing, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/843 (OJ L 141 5.6.2015, p. 73). 

EN 

31 

  EN 

 
                                                 
2.  Asset  tracing  investigations  pursuant  to  paragraph  1  shall  be  carried  out  immediately  by 
competent authorities whenever an investigation is initiated in relation to a criminal offence 
which  is  likely  to  give  rise  to  substantial  economic  benefit,  or  where  necessary  to  prevent, 
detect or investigate criminal offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures. 

Article 5 

Asset recovery offices  

1. Each Member State shall set up at least one asset recovery office to facilitate cross-border 
cooperation in relation to asset tracing investigations. 

2. Asset recovery offices shall have the following tasks: 

(a) trace and identify instrumentalities, proceeds, or property whenever necessary to support 
other  competent  national  authorities  responsible  for  asset  tracing  investigations  pursuant  to 
Article 4; 

(b)  trace  and  identify  instrumentalities,  proceeds,  or  property  which  may  become  or  is  the 
object of a freezing or confiscation order issued by another Member State; 

(c) cooperate and exchange information with other Member States’  asset recovery offices in 
the  tracing  and  identification  of  instrumentalities  and  proceeds,  or  property  which  may 
become or is the object of a freezing or confiscation order; 

(d) exchange information with other asset recovery offices in the Member States related to the 
effective implementation of Union restrictive measures where necessary to prevent, detect or 
investigate criminal offences. 

3.  Asset  recovery  offices  shall  be  empowered  to  trace  and  identify  property  of  persons  and 
entities  subject  to  EU  targeted  financial  sanctions  where  necessary  to  prevent,  detect  or 
investigate criminal offences. To that effect, they shall cooperate with asset  recovery offices 
and  other  relevant  competent  authorities  in  other  Member  States  and  exchange  relevant 
information. 

4.  Member  States  shall  enable  asset  recovery  offices  to  take  immediate  action  pursuant  to 
Article  11  paragraph  2  where  necessary  to  prevent,  detect  or  investigate  criminal  offences 
related  to  the  violation  of  Union  restrictive  measures.  Article  11  paragraph  5  shall  apply 
mutatis mutandis. 

Article 6 

Access to information 

1.  For  the  purposes  of  performing  the  tasks  referred  to  in  Article  5,  Member  States  shall 
ensure  that  asset  recovery  offices  have  immediate  and  direct  access  to  the  following 
information  to  the  extent  that  information  is  necessary  for  the  tracing  and  identification  of 
proceeds, instrumentalities, and property: 

(a) fiscal data, including data held by tax and revenue authorities; 

EN 

32 

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(b)  national  real  estate  registers  or  electronic  data  retrieval  systems  and  land  and  cadastral 
registers; 

(c) national citizenship and population registers of natural persons; 

(d) national motor vehicles, aircraft and watercraft registers; 

(e) commercial databases, including business and company registers; 

(f) national social security registers; 

(g)  relevant  information  which  is  held  by  authorities  competent  for  preventing,  detecting, 
investigating or prosecuting criminal offences. 

2.  Where  the  information  referred  to  in  paragraph  1  is  not  stored  in  databases  or  registers, 
Member  States  shall  take  the  necessary  measures  to  ensure  that  asset  recovery  offices  can 
swiftly obtain that information by other means. 

3.  The  direct  and  immediate  access  to  the  information  referred  to  in  paragraph  1  shall  be 
without prejudice to the procedural safeguards established under national law.  

Conditions for access to information by asset recovery offices 

Article 7 

1. Access to information pursuant to Article 6 shall be performed only where necessary on a 
case-by-case  basis  by  the  staff  specifically  designated  and  authorised  to  access  the 
information referred to in Article 6. 

2. Member States shall ensure that staff of the asset recovery offices comply with the rules on 
confidentiality  and  professional  secrecy  as  provided  for  under  applicable  national  law. 
Member  States  shall  also  ensure  that  staff  of  asset  recovery  offices  have  the  necessary 
specialised skills and abilities to perform their roles effectively.  

3.  Member  States  shall  ensure  that  appropriate  technical  and  organisational  measures  are  in 
place to ensure the security of the data in order for asset recovery offices to access and search 
the information referred to in Article 6. 

Monitoring access and searches by asset recovery offices  

Article 8 

1. Without prejudice to Article 25 of Directive 2016/680, Member States shall ensure that the 
authorities holding the information referred to in Article 6 keep logs of all access and search 
activities by  asset  recovery  offices in  accordance with  this  Directive. The logs shall contain 
the following: 

(a) the national file reference;  

(b) the date and time of the query or search;  

(c) the type of data used to launch the query or search;  

(d) the unique identifier of the results of the query or search;  

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(e) the name of the asset recovery office consulting the registry;  

(f) the unique user identifier of the official who made the query or performed the search. 

2.  The  logs  referred  to  in  paragraph  1  may  be  used  only  for  data  protection  monitoring, 
including  checking  the  lawfulness  of  data  processing,  and  for  ensuring  data  security  and 
integrity. The logs shall be protected by appropriate measures against unauthorised access and 
erased five years after their creation. If, however, they are required for monitoring procedures 
that are ongoing, they shall be erased once the  monitoring procedures no longer  require the 
logs. 

Article 9 

Exchange of information 

1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that their asset recovery offices 
provide, upon request from an asset recovery office of another Member State, any information 
that  is  necessary  for  the  performance  of  their  tasks  pursuant  to  Article  5.  The  categories  of 
personal  data  that  can  be  provided  are  those  listed  in  Section  B,  point  2  of  Annex  II  to 
Regulation (EU) 2016/794.  

Any personal data to be provided shall be determined on a case-by-case basis, in light of what 
is necessary for the performance of the tasks pursuant to Article 5. 

2. When making a request pursuant to paragraph 1, the requesting asset recovery office shall 
specify as precisely as possible the following:  

(a) the object of the request;  

(b)  the  reasons  for  the  request,  including  the  relevance  of  the  information  requested  for  the 
tracing and identification of the property; 

(c) the nature of the proceedings;  

(d) the type of criminal offence for which the request is made; 

(e) the link of the proceedings to the requested Member State; 

(f)  details  on  the  property  targeted  or  sought,  such  as  bank  accounts,  real  estate,  vehicles, 
vessels, aircraft, companies and other high value items;  

(g)  and/or  the  natural  or  legal  persons  presumed  to  be  involved,  such  as  names,  addresses, 
dates and places of birth, date of registration, shareholders, headquarters;  

(h) where applicable, reasons for the urgency of the request. 

3. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable that their asset  asset recovery 
offices  exchange information with  asset recovery  offices of other Member States, without a 
request to that effect, whenever they are aware of information on instrumentalities, proceeds, 
or property that they consider necessary for the performance of the tasks of the asset recovery 
offices pursuant  to  Article 5.  When providing such information,  asset recovery offices shall 
set out the reasons why the information exchanged is considered necessary.   

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4.  Member  States  shall  ensure  that  the  information  provided  by  asset  recovery  offices 
pursuant  to  paragraphs  1, 2 and 3 can be presented as evidence before a national  court of a 
Member State, in accordance with procedures in national law.  

5. Member States shall ensure that asset recovery offices have direct access to SIENA and use 
the SIENA system for exchanging information pursuant to this Article. 

6. Asset recovery offices may refuse to provide information to the requesting asset recovery 
office if there are factual reasons to assume that the provision of information would:  

(a) harm the fundamental national security interests of the requested Member State;  

(b)  jeopardise  an  ongoing  investigation,  or  a  criminal  intelligence  operation,  or  pose  an 
imminent threat to the life or physical integrity of a person. 

7.  Member  States  shall  take  the  necessary  measures  to  ensure  that  reasons  are  given  for 
refusals  to  provide  information.  Refusals  shall  only  affect  the  part  of  the  requested 
information  to  which  the  reasons  set  out  in  paragraph  6  relate  and  shall,  where  applicable, 
leave  the  obligation  to  provide  the  other  parts  of  the  information  in  accordance  with  this 
Directive unaffected. 

Article 10 

Time limits for provision of information 

1. Member States shall ensure that asset recovery offices respond to requests for information 
pursuant to Article 9 paragraph 1, as soon as possible and in any event within the following 
time limits:  

(a) seven calendar days, for all requests that are not urgent;  

(b) eight hours, for urgent requests relating to information referred to in Article 6 (1), which is 
stored in databases and registers.   

2. Where the information requested pursuant to paragraph 1, point (b) is not directly available 
or the request pursuant to paragraph 1, point (a) imposes a disproportionate burden, the asset 
recovery office receiving the request may postpone the provision of  the information.  In that 
case,  the  requested  asset  recovery  office  shall  immediately  inform  the  requesting  asset 
recovery office of this postponement and shall provide the requested information as soon as 
possible,  and  in  any  event  within  three  days  of  the  initial  deadline  established  pursuant  to 
paragraph 1.  

CHAPTER III  
FREEZING AND CONFISCATION  

Article 11 

Freezing   

1.  Member  States  shall  take  the  necessary  measures  to  enable  the  freezing  of  property 
necessary to ensure a possible confiscation of that property under Article 12.  

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2. Freezing measures shall include immediate action to be taken when necessary in order to 
preserve the property.  

3.  Member  States  shall  enable  asset  recovery  offices  to  take  immediate  action  pursuant  to 
paragraph  2  until  a  freezing  order  pursuant  to  paragraph  1  is  issued.  The  validity  of  such 
temporary urgent freezing measures shall not exceed seven days.  

4. Property in the possession of a third party can be subject to freezing measures pursuant to 
paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 where necessary to ensure a possible confiscation under article 13. 

5. Member States shall ensure that the freezing orders pursuant to paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 are 
issued by a competent authority and are adequately motivated. 

6. The freezing order pursuant  to  paragraph 1 shall remain in  force only  for as long as it is 
necessary  to  preserve  the  property  with  a  view  to  possible  subsequent  confiscation.  Frozen 
property which is not subsequently confiscated, shall be returned to the owner of the property 
without delay. The conditions or procedural rules under which such property is returned shall 
be determined by national law. 

7.  Where  the  property  to  be  frozen  consists  of  entities  that  should  be  preserved  as  a  going 
concern, such as undertakings, the freezing order shall include measures to exclude access to 
this  property  by  the  persons  owning  or  controlling  them  while  allowing  for  continued 
operations. 

Article 12 

Confiscation  

1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable the confiscation, either wholly 
or  in  part,  of  instrumentalities  and  proceeds  stemming  from  a  criminal  offence  following  a 
final conviction, which may also result from proceedings in absentia. 

2. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable the confiscation of property the 
value of which corresponds to instrumentalities or proceeds stemming from a criminal offence 
following a final conviction, which may also result from proceedings in absentia.  

Article 13 

Confiscation from a third party  

1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable the confiscation of proceeds, or 
other property the value of which corresponds to proceeds, which, directly or indirectly, were 
transferred by a suspected or accused person to third parties, or which were acquired by third 
parties from a suspected or accused person.  

The  confiscation  of  these  proceeds  or  other  property  shall  be  enabled  where  it  has  been 
established  that  those  third  parties  knew  or  ought  to  have  known  that  the  purpose  of  the 
transfer  or  acquisition  was  to  avoid  confiscation,  on  the  basis  of  concrete  facts  and 
circumstances, including  that the transfer or acquisition was carried out  free of charge or in 
exchange for an amount significantly lower than the market value. 

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2. Paragraph 1 shall not affect the rights of bona fide third parties. 

Article 14 

Extended confiscation  

1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable the confiscation, either wholly 
or  in  part,  of  property  belonging  to  a  person  convicted  of  a  criminal  offence  where  this 
offence  is  liable  to  give  rise,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  economic  benefit,  and  where  the 
national court is satisfied that the property is derived from criminal conduct. 

2. In determining whether the property in question is derived from criminal conduct, account 
shall be taken of all the  circumstances of the case, including the specific facts and available 
evidence, such as that the value of the property is disproportionate to the lawful income of the 
convicted person. 

Article 15 

Non-conviction based confiscation 

1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable, under the conditions set out in 
paragraph 2, the confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds, or property as  referred to in 
Article 12, or which was transferred to third parties as referred to in Article 13, in cases where 
criminal proceedings have been initiated but the proceedings could not be continued because 
of the following circumstances:  

(a) illness of the suspected or accused person; 

(b) absconding of the suspected or accused person; 

(c) death of the suspected or accused person; 

(d)  immunity  from  prosecution  of  the  suspected  or  accused  person,  as  provided  for  under 
national law; 

(e) amnesty granted to the suspected or accused person, as provided for under national law; 

(f)  the  time  limits  prescribed  by  national  law  have  expired,  where  such  limits  are  not 
sufficiently  long  to  allow  for  the  effective  investigation  and  prosecution  of  the  relevant 
criminal offences. 

2. Confiscation without a prior conviction shall be limited to criminal offences liable to give 
rise,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  substantial  economic  benefit  and  only  insofar  as  the  national 
court is satisfied that all the elements of the offence are present. 

3. Before a confiscation order within the meaning of paragraphs 1 and 2 is issued by the court, 
Member  States  shall  ensure  that  the  affected  person’s  rights  of  defence  are  respected 
including by awarding access to the file and the right to be heard on issues of law and fact. 

4.  For  the  purposes  of  this  Article,  the  notion  of  ‘criminal  offence’  shall  include  offences 
listed  in  Article  2  when punishable  by  deprivation  of  liberty  of  a  maximum  of  at  least  four 
years.  

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Confiscation of unexplained wealth linked to criminal activities 

Article 16 

1.  Member  States  shall  take  the  necessary  measures  to  enable  the  confiscation  of  property, 
where confiscation is not possible pursuant to Articles 12 to 15 and the following conditions 
are fulfilled: 

(a) the property is frozen in the context of an investigation into criminal offences committed 
in the framework of a criminal organisation;  
(b)  the  criminal  offence  pursuant  to  point  (a)  is  liable  to  give  rise,  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
substantial economic benefit; 
(c)  the  national  court  is  satisfied  that  the  frozen  property  is  derived  from  criminal  offences 
committed in the framework of a criminal organisation. 
2. When determining whether the frozen property is derived from criminal offences, account 
shall be taken of all the circumstances of the case, including the specific facts and available 
evidence, such as that the value of the property is substantially disproportionate to the lawful 
income of the owner of the property. 

3.  For  the  purposes  of  this  Article,  the  notion  of  ‘criminal  offence’  shall  include  offences 
referred to  in  Article 2 when punishable by deprivation of liberty of a  maximum  of at  least 
four years.  

4. Before a confiscation order within the meaning of paragraphs 1 and 2 is issued by the court, 
Member  States  shall  ensure  that  the  affected  person’s  rights  of  defence  are  respected 
including by awarding access to the file and the right to be heard on issues of law and fact. 

Article 17 

Effective confiscation and execution 

1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable the tracing and identification of 
property to be frozen and confiscated even after a final conviction for a criminal offence, or 
following proceedings in application of Articles 15 and 16. 

2. Member States shall consider taking measures allowing confiscated property to be used for 
public interest or social purposes.  

Article 18 

Victims compensation 

Where, as a result of a criminal offence, victims have claims against the person who is subject 
to  a  confiscation  measure  provided  for  under  this  Directive,  Member  States  shall  take  the 
necessary measures to ensure that the confiscation measure does not affect victims’ rights to 
obtain compensation for their claims.  

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CHAPTER IV 
MANAGEMENT  

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Article 19 

Asset management and pre-seizure planning 

1.  Member  States  shall  ensure  the  efficient  management  of  frozen  and  confiscated  property 
until its disposal. 

2.  Member  States  shall  ensure  that,  before  issuing  a  freezing  order  within  the  meaning  of 
Article 11 paragraph 1, competent authorities responsible for the management of frozen and 
confiscated  property  carry  out  an  assessment  of  the  costs  which  may  be  incurred  in  the 
management  of  the  property  which  may  be  frozen,  for  the  purposes  of  preserving  and 
optimizing the value of such property until its disposal.  

Article 20 

Interlocutory sales 

1. Member States shall ensure that property frozen pursuant to Article 11 paragraph 1 can be 
transferred or sold before the issuing of a confiscation order in one or more of the following 
circumstances: 

(a) the property subject to freezing is perishable or rapidly depreciating; 

(b) the storage or maintenance costs of the property are disproportionate to its value; 

(c)  the  property  is  too  difficult  to  administer,  or  its  management  requires  special  conditions 
and non-readily available expertise.  

2. Member States shall adopt the necessary measures to ensure that the interests of the owner 
of  the  property  are  taken  into  account  when  issuing  an  interlocutory  sale  order,  including 
whether  the  property  to  be  sold  is  easily  replaceable.  With  the  exception  of  cases  of 
absconding, Member States shall ensure that the owner of the property that may be subject to 
an  interlocutory  sale  is  notified  and  heard  before  the  sale.  The  owner  shall  be  given  the 
possibility to request the sale of the property. 

3. Earnings from interlocutory sales should be secured until a judicial decision on confiscation 
is  reached.  Member  States  shall  take  appropriate  measures  to  protect  third  party  buyers  of 
property  sold  from  retaliatory  measures,  to  ensure  that  the  property  sold  is  not  returned  to 
persons convicted of the criminal offences referred to in Article 2. 

4. Member States may require the costs for the management of frozen property to be charged 
to the beneficial owner. 

Article 21 

Asset management offices 

1. Each Member State shall set up or designate at least one asset management office for the 
purpose of the management of frozen and confiscated property.  

2. Asset management offices shall have the following tasks: 

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(a)  to  ensure  the  efficient  management  of  frozen  and  confiscated  property,  either  through 
directly managing frozen and confiscated property or through providing support and expertise 
to  other  competent  authorities  responsible  for  the  management  of  frozen  and  confiscated 
property; 

(b) to provide support with pre-seizure planning to the competent authorities responsible for 
the management of frozen and confiscated property;  

(c) to cooperate with other competent authorities responsible for the tracing and identification, 
freezing and confiscation of property, pursuant to this Directive;  

(d)  to  cooperate  with  other  competent  authorities  responsible  for  the  management  of  frozen 
and confiscated property in cross-border cases.  

CHAPTER V 
SAFEGUARDS 

Article 22  

Obligation to inform affected persons 

Member States shall ensure that the freezing orders pursuant to Article 11, confiscation orders 
pursuant  to  Articles  12  to  16,  and  orders  to  sell  the  property  pursuant  to  Article  20  are 
communicated to the affected person setting out the reasons for the measure.  

Article 23 

Legal remedies 

1. Member States  shall ensure that the persons affected by the measures provided for under 
this Directive have the right to defence, to an effective remedy, and to a fair trial in order to 
uphold their rights. 

2. Member States shall provide for the effective possibility for the person whose property is 
affected  to  challenge  the  freezing  order  pursuant  to  article  11  before  a  court,  in  accordance 
with procedures provided for in national law. Where the freezing order has been  taken by a 
competent  authority  other  than  a  judicial  authority,  national  law  shall  provide  that  such  an 
order is first to be submitted for validation or review to a judicial authority before it can be 
challenged before a court.  

3.  Where  the  suspected  or  accused  person  has  absconded,  Member  States  shall  take  all 
reasonable  steps  to  ensure  an  effective  possibility  to  exercise  the  right  to  challenge  the 
confiscation  order  and  shall  require  that  the  person  concerned  be  summoned  to  the 
confiscation proceedings or that reasonable efforts be made to make the person aware of such 
proceedings. 

4. Member States shall provide for the effective possibility for the person whose property is 
affected to challenge the confiscation order and the relevant circumstances of the case before 
a court, in accordance with procedures provided for in national law.  

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In the case of confiscation orders pursuant to Article 13, such circumstance shall include facts 
and circumstances on which the finding was based that the third party knew or ought to have 
known that the purpose of the transfer or acquisition was to avoid confiscation.  

In  the  case  of  confiscation  orders  pursuant  to  Articles  14  and  16,  such  circumstances  shall 
include specific facts and available evidence on the basis of which the property concerned is 
considered to be property that is derived from criminal conduct.   

In  the  case  of  confiscation  orders  pursuant  to  Article  15,  such  circumstances  shall  include 
facts and evidence on the basis of which the national court concluded that all the elements of 
the offence are present.  

5.  When  implementing  this  Directive,  Member  States  shall  provide  that  confiscation  is  not 
ordered to the extent it would be disproportionate to the offence committed or the accusation 
against the person concerned by the confiscation. When implementing this Directive, Member 
States shall provide that, in exceptional circumstances, confiscation is not ordered, insofar as 
it would, in accordance with national law, represent undue hardship for the affected person.  

6. Member States shall provide for the effective possibility for the person whose property is 
affected to challenge an order pursuant to Article 20 to sell the property in question. Member 
States shall provide for the possibility that such an appeal has suspensory effect.  

7. Third parties shall be entitled to claim title of ownership or other property rights including 
in the cases referred to in Article 13.   

8.  Persons  whose  property  is  affected  by  the  measures  provided  for  in  this  Directive  shall 
have the right of access to a lawyer throughout the freezing and confiscation proceedings. The 
persons concerned shall be informed of that right. 

CHAPTER VI 
ASSET RECOVERY STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 

Article 24 

National strategy on asset recovery  

1.  Member  States  shall  adopt  by  [one  year  after  the  entry  into  force  of  this  Directive]  a 
national  strategy  on  asset  recovery  and  update  it  at  regular  intervals  of  no  longer  than  five 
years. 

2. The strategy shall include at least the following elements: 

(a)  strategic  objectives,  priorities  and  measures  for  the  purposes  of  enhancing  efforts  by  all 
competent national authorities involved in the recovery of property as set out in this Directive;  

(b)  a  governance  framework  to  achieve  the  strategic  objectives  and  priorities,  including  a 
description  of the  roles  and responsibilities of all  the competent authorities and cooperation 
mechanisms;  

(c)  appropriate  mechanisms  for  coordination  and  cooperation  at  strategic  and  operational 
levels among all competent authorities;  

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(d) resources made available to competent authorities, including training;  

(e) procedures for regular monitoring and evaluation of the results achieved.  

3. Member States shall communicate their strategies, and any updates of their strategies, to the 
Commission within three months from their adoption.  

Article 25 

Resources  

Member  States  shall  ensure  that  asset  recovery  offices  and  asset  management  offices 
performing tasks pursuant to this Directive, have appropriately qualified staff and appropriate 
financial,  technical  and  technological  resources  necessary  for  the  effective  performance  of 
their functions related to the implementation of this Directive. 

 Article 26 

Establishment of centralised registries of frozen and confiscated property   

1. For the purpose of managing frozen and confiscated property, Member States shall put in 
place  centralised  registries  containing  information  related  to  the  freezing,  confiscation  and 
management of instrumentalities and proceeds, or property which may become or is the object 
of a freezing or confiscation order. 

2. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that asset recovery offices, asset 
management offices, and other competent authorities performing tasks pursuant to Article 4,  
19  and  20  ,  have  the  power  to  enter,  access  and  search,  directly  and  immediately,  the 
information referred to in paragraph 3. 

3.  The  following  information  shall  be  entered,  accessible  and  searchable  through  the 
centralised registries referred to in paragraph 1: 

(a) the property subject  to  a freezing or confiscation order, including details that enable the 
identification of the property; 

(b) the estimated or actual value of the property at the moment of the freezing, confiscation 
and disposal;  

(c)  the  owner  of  the  property,  including  the  beneficial  owner,  where  such  information  is 
available; 

(d) the national  file reference of the proceeding related to the property; 

(e) the name of the authority entering the information in the registry; 

(f) the unique user identifier of the official who entered the information in the registry. 

4.  The  information  referred  to  in  paragraph  3  shall  only  be  retained  for  as  long  as  it  is 
necessary  for  the  purposes  of  keeping  a  record  and  overview  of  the  property  frozen, 
confiscated,  or  under  management,  and  in  any  case  it  shall  not  be  retained  for  longer  than 
after its disposal, or to provide annual statistics as referred in Article 27. 

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5.  Member  States  shall  ensure  that  appropriate  technical  and  organisational  measures  are  in 
place  to  ensure  the  security  of  the  data  contained  in  the  centralised  registries  of  frozen  and 
confiscated property. 

Article 27 

Statistics  

1.  Member  States  shall  collect  and  maintain  comprehensive  statistics  at  central  level  on  the 
measures taken under this Directive. 

2. Member States shall ensure that the statistics referred to in paragraph 1 are collected on a 
calendar basis and transmitted to the Commission on an annual basis, by [1 September] of the 
following year. 

3. The Commission may adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 30 laying down more 
detailed rules on the information to be collected and the methodology for the collection of the 
statistics  referred  to  in  paragraph  1  and  the  arrangements  for  their  transmission  to  the 
Commission.  

CHAPTER VII 
COOPERATION 

Article 28 

Cooperation with EU bodies and agencies  

1. Asset recovery offices of Member States shall closely cooperate with the European Public 
Prosecutor’s Office for the purposes of facilitating the identification of instrumentalities and 
proceeds, or property that may become or is the object of a freezing or confiscation order in 
proceedings in criminal matters concerning criminal offences for which the European Public 
Prosecutor’s Office exercises its competence. 

their  competence,  for 

2. Asset recovery  offices shall cooperate with Europol and Eurojust, in  accordance with the 
areas  of 
identification  of 
instrumentalities and proceeds, or property that may become or is the object of a freezing or 
confiscation order made by a competent authority in the course of criminal proceedings, and 
where necessary to prevent, detect or investigate criminal offences related to the violation of 
Union restrictive measures.   

the  purposes  of  facilitating 

the 

Article 29 

Cooperation with third countries  

1. Member States shall ensure that asset recovery offices cooperate with their counterparts in 
third  countries  to  the  greatest  extent  possible,  and  subject  to  the  applicable  data  protection 
legal  framework,  for  the  purposes  of  performing  the  tasks  pursuant  to  Article  5,  and  where 
necessary to prevent, detect or investigate criminal offences related to the violation of Union 
restrictive measures.   

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2. Member States shall ensure that asset management offices cooperate with their counterparts 
in  third  countries  to  the  greatest  extent  possible  for  the  purposes  of  performing  the  tasks 
pursuant to Article 21.  

CHAPTER VIII 
FINAL PROVISIONS 

Article 30  

Exercise of the delegation 

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions 
laid down in this Article. 

2.  The  power  to  adopt  delegated  acts  referred  to  in  Article  27  shall  be  conferred  on  the 
Commission  for  an  indeterminate  period  of  time  from  [date  of  entry  into  force  of  this 
Directive]. 

3.  The  delegation  of  power  referred  to  in  Article  27  may  be  revoked  at  any  time  by  the 
European  Parliament  or  by  the  Council.  A  decision  to  revoke  shall  put  an  end  to  the 
delegation  of  the  power  specified  in  that  decision.  It  shall  take  effect  the  day  following  the 
publication  of  the  decision  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the  European  Union  or  at  a  later  date 
specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force. 

4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each 
Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement 
of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making. 

5.  As  soon  as  it  adopts  a  delegated  act,  the  Commission  shall  notify  it  simultaneously  to 
the European Parliament and to the Council. 

6. A delegated act  adopted pursuant  to  Article  27 shall enter into force  only if no objection 
has  been  expressed  either  by  the  European  Parliament  or  by  the  Council  within  a  period  of 
[two  months]  of  notification  of  that  act  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  or  if, 
before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed 
the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by [two months] at 
the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council. 

Article 31 

Designated competent authorities and contact points 

1. Member States shall inform the Commission about the authority or authorities designated 
to carry out the tasks pursuant to Articles 5 and 21.  

2.  Where  a  Member  State  has  more  than  two  authorities  charged  with  the  tasks  pursuant  to 
Articles 5 and 21, it shall nominate a maximum of two contact points to facilitate cooperation 
in cross-border cases. 

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3. By [... months after the entry into force of this Directive] at the latest, Member States shall 
notify the Commission of the competent authority or authorities as well as the contact points 
referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 respectively.  

4. By [...months after the entry into force of this Directive] at the latest, the Commission shall 
set up an online register listing all competent authorities and the designated contact point for 
each competent authority. The Commission shall publish and regularly update on its website 
the list of authorities referred to in paragraph 1. 

Article 32 

Transposition 

1.  Member  States  shall  bring  into  force  the  laws,  regulations  and  administrative  provisions 
necessary  to  comply  with  this  Directive  by  [date  of  entry  into  force  +  1  year].  They  shall 
forthwith transmit to the Commission the text of those provisions. 

2.  When  Member  States  adopt  those  provisions,  they  shall  contain  a  reference  to  this 
Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. 
Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made. 

Article 33 

Reporting 

1.  The  Commission  shall,  by  [date  of  entry  into  force  +  3  years],  submit  a  report  to  the 
European Parliament and to the Council, assessing the implementation of this Directive.  

2.  The  Commission  shall,  by  [date  of  entry  into  force  +  5  years],  submit  a  report  to  the 
European Parliament and to the Council evaluating this Directive. The Commission shall take 
into account the information provided by Member States and any other relevant information 
related  to  the  transposition  and  implementation  of  this  Directive.  On  the  basis  of  this 
evaluation,  the  Commission  shall  decide  on  appropriate  follow-up  actions,  including,  if 
necessary, a legislative proposal. 

Article 34 

Relation with other instruments 

1. This Directive is without prejudice to Directive 2019/1153/EU of the European Parliament 
and of the Council56. 

Article 35 

Replacement  of Joint Action 98/699/JHA, Framework Decision 2001/500/JHA and 
2005/212/JHA, Decision 2007/845/JHA and Directive 2014/42/EU 

56 

Directive (EU) 2019/1153 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 laying down 
rules facilitating the use of financial and other information for the prevention, detection, investigation or 
prosecution  of  certain  criminal  offences,  and  repealing  Council  Decision  2000/642/JHA,  (OJ  L  186, 
11.7.2019, p. 122). 

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1.  Joint  Action  98/699/JHA,  Framework  Decisions  2001/500/JHA  and  2005/212/JHA, 
Decision  2007/845/JHA  and  Directive  2014/42/EU  are  replaced  with  regard  to  the  Member 
States  bound by this Directive, without prejudice to  the obligations of those Member States 
with regard to the date for transposition of those instruments into national law.  

2.  With  regard  to  the  Member  States  bound  by  this  Directive,  references  to  instruments 
referred to in paragraph 1 shall be construed as references to this Directive. 

Article 36 

Entry into force 

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 37  

Addressees 

This Directive is addressed to the Member States in accordance with the Treaties. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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