A European Federal Police – A Federal Response to Organised Crime

• Acknowledging the significant impact on the EU of organised criminal networks and organisations, over 80% of which are involved in the trade in drugs, organised property crime, trafficking in human beings, exercise fraud or migrant smuggling as described by the Europol report Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) of 2021;

• Recognizing that the European Union lacks the necessary federal law enforcement agency to efficiently combat transnational crime;

• Acknowledging that the fight against cross-border crime requires a harmonized legal framework and enhanced cooperation at the European level;

• Recognizing that organized crime constitutes a unique form of delinquency, which aims to systematically acquire both material and immaterial benefits through unlawful means;

• Aware that the structure of these organisations tends to be hierarchical, based on the rules of obedience and silence;

• Aware that they place their action far above the criminal standards of common delinquency;

• Aware that they are able to undermine the economy, both in the private sector and in the public procurement sector, using the resources originating from the trafficking of drugs, arms, human beings, etc., which are eventually laundered and illegally placed on the market;

• Aware that organised crime organisations do not intend to be anti-state, but rather tend to insert themselves within the State itself through instruments such as corruption, coercion, violence and control of a part of the electorate, both active and passive;

• Aware that in many countries in which these groups find conditions favourable to their development, these criminal organisations fill gaps that are left by absent or ineffective government institutions;

• Deeply concerned that the presence of organised crime in society undermines the foundations of free competition in the economy, democracy, enjoyment of human and fundamental rights and the rule of law;

• Highlighting its resolution “On the creation of a Fiscal Union in the Eurozone”, which noted the need to strongly tackle tax havens, where the most part of organised crime illicit proceeds are deposited before being laundered and reinvested in the legal economy, through the instruments of a fiscal union in order to avoid damages to the European economy, safeguard the health of the democratic process and protect public goods from organised crime organisations;

• Considering that organised crime is increasingly emerging in a transnational and global dimension and its pervasiveness is increasingly felt;

• Encouraged by the increasing awareness of European public opinion regarding the danger of these organisations;

• Welcoming that the European Parliament has become more and more engaged in addressing the threat of organised crime during the last 10 years, calling on the European Commission for a stronger commitment;

• Taking into consideration the existing frameworks and instruments related to transnational crime, including the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols Thereto of 2004, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the Council of Europe Organized Crime Situation Report 2005, and the European Parliament resolutions on organised crime, corruption, money laundering, and financial crimes;

• Alarmed by the EU proposal to revise the Combating Child Sexual Abuse Directive in a way that would introduce mass scanning or “chat control” obligations on private communications;

• Emphasising that any measures to combat organised crime must be grounded in respect for fundamental rights, such as privacy and freedom of communication, and favour targeted, intelligence-led interventions over intrusive blanket controls;

• Being aware that, without a Federal Constitution or a new treaty change, the European Union cannot pursue penal crimes, but only make use of forms of enhanced voluntary cooperation among the Member States in investigation on transnational crimes;

• Highlighting the limitations of the European Union’s existing mechanisms for combating organised crime, such as the European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO), Europol, and Eurojust, which rely on voluntary cooperation and have a limited scope of jurisdiction;

• Recognising that the legal framework of the European Union dealing with money-laundering and criminal assets is not sufficient to prevent organised crime from undermining European democracy and the Common Market;

• Convinced that it is necessary to concretely address the threat of organised crime against European democracy by making cooperation mandatory and, at the same time, by harmonising, among the Member States, the prosecution of the same types of offence;

• Emphasising the urgent need to establish a European Federal Police Force to strengthen the EU’s capacity to combat organised crime effectively, and support Member States in their rule of law enforcement;

• Recognising that a European Federal Police Force would provide a centralized and coordinated approach to investigating and addressing criminal activities where required;

• Considering that a European Federal Police Force would streamline the efforts of law enforcement agencies across Member States, allowing for more efficient and effective operations;

• Recalling the United Nations Convention against transnational organised crime and the Protocols thereto of 2004;

• Recalling the Council of Europe Organised crime situation report 2005;

• Recalling the European Union Strategy to tackle Organised Crime 2021-2025 of 14 April 2021;

• Recalling the European Parliament resolution of 23 October 2013 on organised crime, corruption, and money laundering;

• Recalling the European Parliament resolution of 26 March 2019 on financial crimes, tax evasion and tax avoidance;

• Recalling the EU Strategy on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings 2021–2025 of 14 April 2021;

• Considering that, in the European Union, criminal law falls predominantly within the competence of the Member States – change of which would necessitate a treaty revision;

• Considering that, at present, the European Union can only exercise very limited competence in criminal matters in order to approximate or harmonise the criminal laws of the Member States and to provide support in the sharing of information essential for the action of the various administrative bodies of criminal justice;

• Considering that the activity of the European Union against organized crime meets with a lot of resistance from Member States;

• Considering that money laundering is an essential component of organised criminal activity, yet the European supervisory authorities (ESAs) have limited capabilities to take a substantial role in the fight against money laundering owing to their decision-making structures, a lack of powers and limited resources;

• Considering that drug smuggling and sale is a major source of income for organized crime;

• Considering that organised crime is a significant actor in human trafficking, smuggling and violent crimes with cross-border impact causing significant human suffering;

• Considering that thousands of people within the EU, including children, and many more in other regions, are deprived of their fundamental and human rights because of human trafficking and various forms of forced labour;

• Considering that the most common form of human trafficking in the EU remains sexual exploitation accounting for 49% of all trafficking;

• Considering that countless more people fall victim to organized crime by being exploited in other ways, such as abuse, extortion, fraud, or being lured into criminal groups;

JEF Europe, therefore,

1. Calls for conferring upon the European Union the competence to enact common criminal law aimed at efficiently combating organised and transnational crime;

2. Urges the drafting of a comprehensive federal penal law that provides an overarching legal framework for addressing organised crime and transnational crimes, while respecting the principle of subsidiarity to allow for differentiation between Member States where necessary;

3. Calls on the relevant European legislator to adopt a shared definition of organised crime following the procedure laid down in Art. 83 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) as to combat such undertakings more effectively and prevent legal loopholes when dealing with organised crime;

4. Calls on the EU to make mandatory the communications to the EPPO, Europol, Eurojust, AMLA and ECB from all the competent agents;

5. Advocates for the European Parliament to initiate the transformation of Europol into a European Federal Police Force with real policing and enforcement powers to better combat crime at the European level, able to act transnationally to adequately fight organised and transnational crime;

6. Recommends the further development of the European Public Prosecutor Office, ensuring it has adequate resources, and a Financial Police Authority as a part of the Federal Law Enforcement Structure to enhance cooperation in investigating and combating financial crimes at the European level;

7. Demands that the Federal Police Authority is subject to democratic oversight, that all fundamental and procedural rights are fully guaranteed and that the democratically elected institutions (e.g. the European Parliament) have the legislative competence to define the operational framework for such a Federal Police Authority;

8. Further advocates for the sharing of criminal competences at the European level to enable the use of regulations instead of directives, with the ultimate goal of harmonising the penal codes of Member States concerning organized transnational crimes, international crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, as well as other forms of cross-border crimes, e.g. trafficking in human beings, tax evasion, smuggling and money laundering;

9. Calls for cooperation in the investigative action at the European level against transnational crimes and crimes connected to organised crime, to be pursued through the institution of a dedicated Prosecutor Office and specialised Federal Police units with expertise on the specific types of crimes;

10. Endorses continued and full collaboration by the Member States and by European authorities with international courts and tribunals as well as other quasi-judicial bodies in accordance with their obligations arising from international law, and inclusion of the so-called international crimes as defined in the Rome Statute and the relevant United Nations conventions in the Federal Penal Code;

11. Calls on the Member States to coordinate and organise training for their national authorities on recognition, prevention, investigation and prosecution of organised crime and other cross-border crimes, and create channels for effective cooperation of national authorities in investigation and prosecution of such crimes;

12. Suggests that the European Parliament institutes a permanent Committee on organised crime;

13. Calls on the European Commission to make use of the procedure laid down in Article 116 TFEU to change the unanimity requirement vote in the Council, for purposes of a coordinated fight against the distortions in the internal market due to organised crime;

14. Calls for EU cohesion funds to be allocated to regions affected by high unemployment and to youth employment programmes, to combat the socio-economic marginalisation due to poverty, lack of employment opportunities, and regional inequalities that create fertile ground for recruitment in criminal networks;

15. Calls on the European Commission and Member States to explore evidence-based alternatives to prohibitionist approaches towards illicit goods and services, such as drugs, in order to reduce demand, limit criminal revenues, and strengthen public health;

16. Calls on the European Commission and the Member States to ensure the full and effective implementation of the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive, and to strengthen safeguards for individuals who denounce organised crime, in order to protect them from retaliation and incentivise reporting;

17. Calls for the establishment of a European Charter on the Rights of Victims of Organized Crime, which would ensure their access to justice, legal assistance, psychological support, protection against discrimination, safe housing, and comprehensive integration programs;

18. Encourages the development and funding at the EU level of exit programmes for individuals seeking to leave organised criminal groups, with a focus on rehabilitation, reintegration into society, and prevention of recidivism;

19. Calls for the promotion of education and awareness-raising initiatives in schools and local communities, to foster civic engagement, trust in institutions, and resilience against the influence of organised crime. These campaigns should be designed but also implemented in collaboration with NGOs, civil society organisations, investigative journalists, and educational institutions, ensuring local outreach and contextual sensitivity;

20. Calls for undermining the financial foundations of organised crime primarily through alternative regulatory, demand-reduction and public health approaches, rather than through sweeping surveillance mandates;

21. Urges the European Commission to abandon the proposal to revise the Combating Child Sexual Abuse Directive, as the mass scanning would violate fundamental rights to privacy and freedom of communication;

22. Suggests to all European Institutions to strongly commit to an information and awareness-raising campaign, targeted at all the social partners, about the various risks due to organised crime, including about the entry of criminal capital;

23. Encourages good coordination and cooperation, now and in the future, between all law enforcement authorities in Europe;

24. Calls for a European Constituent Assembly and the foundation of a truly European Federation with the authority to enact a federal penal law aimed at efficiently combating organised and transnational crime.