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

18.12.2007 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 332/103
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
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Articles 30(1)(a) and (b) and 34(2)(c) thereof,
Having regard to the initiative of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Austria and the Republic of Finland,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),
Whereas:
(1) The main motive for cross-border organised crime is financial gain. This financial gain is a stimulus for committing further crime to achieve even more profit. Accordingly, law enforcement services should have the necessary skills to investigate and analyse financial trails of criminal activity. To combat organised crime effectively, information that can lead to the tracing and seizure of proceeds from crime and other property belonging to criminals has to be exchanged rapidly between the Member States of the European Union.
(2) The Council adopted Framework Decision 2003/577/JHA of 22 July 2003 on the execution in the European Union of orders freezing property or evidence (2) and Framework Decision 2005/212/JHA of 24 February 2005 on Confiscation of Crime-Related Proceeds, Instrumentalities and Property (3), dealing with certain aspects of judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the field of the freezing and confiscation of the proceeds from, instrumentalities of, and other property related to, crime.
(3) Close cooperation is necessary between the relevant authorities of the Member States involved in the tracing of illicit proceeds and other property that may become liable to confiscation and provision should be made allowing for direct communication between those authorities.
(4) To that end, Member States should have national Asset Recovery Offices in place which are competent in these fields, and should ensure that these offices can exchange information rapidly.
(5) The Camden Assets Recovery Inter-Agency Network (CARIN) established at The Hague on 22-23 September 2004 by Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and the United Kingdom already constitutes a global network of practitioners and experts with the intention of enhancing mutual knowledge on methods and techniques in the area of cross-border identification, freezing, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds from, and other property related to, crime. This Decision should complete the CARIN by providing a legal basis for the exchange of information between Asset Recovery Offices of all the Member States.
(6) In its Communication to the Council and the European Parliament ‘The Hague Programme: Ten Priorities for the next five years’, the Commission advocated strengthening tools to address the financial aspects of organised crime, inter alia, by promoting the establishment of criminal asset intelligence units in Member States.
(7) Cooperation between the Asset Recovery Offices and between the Asset Recovery Offices and other authorities charged with the facilitation of the tracing and identification of proceeds of crime should take place on the basis of the procedures and time limits provided for in 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 (4), including the grounds for refusal contained therein.
(8) This Decision should be without prejudice to the cooperation arrangements under Council Decision 2000/642/JHA of 17 October 2000 concerning arrangements for cooperation between financial intelligence units of the Member States in exchanging information (5) and to existing arrangements for police cooperation,