Commissioner Malmström welcomes European Parliament report on organised crime, corruption, and money laundering

Today (23 October) the European Parliament adopted the final report of the special CRIM Committee on organised crime, corruption, and money laundering. EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström said: "I am pleased with the work carried out by the European Parliament for which the Commission has been co-operating closely. This report is a strong reminder that the fight against organised crime, corruption and money laundering must be a high priority and an encouragement for the EU and its member states to step up their efforts to counter it effectively.

"The Commission has already presented a number of initiatives and tools to take on these threats together. Some are still being discussed and others are under way.

"For example, our proposal for the confiscation and recovery of criminal assets can make it easier for the police to hit organised crime where it really hurts – by going after their profits. I urge the European Parliament and the European Council to reach an agreement that will maintain the level of ambition of the proposal.

"We need to further facilitate cooperation between the member states' law enforcement authorities and EU agencies. To this end, a legislative proposal on Europol was tabled on 27 March 2013 and I hope for a tangible outcome before the 2014 parliamentary elections.

"A huge amount of work is also being done to ensure a stronger focus on Trafficking in Human Beings in all relevant EU policies; and the Commission will continue monitoring and promoting the implementation of the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive and putting in place concrete actions that were identified under the 2012-2016 EU Strategy.

"The same applies for the fight against corruption, but we need political will and commitment by decision-makers at all levels to address corruption more effectively. Our anti-corruption report will look at efforts against corruption across Europe and will analyse the situation in each member state: what is in place, what are the outstanding issues, what policies are working, what could be improved and how.

"These are only a few of the issues addressed by the report which rightly points out a wide-range of measures that deserve more attention. There isn't a single EU country that doesn’t have to deal with the threats of the estimated 3'600 organised crime groups operating in Europe. We need suitable instruments to crack down on criminals and protect the EU's economy and society."

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