Europol - organised crime and corruption

1. Europol - organised crime and corruption BurkhardMühl, Senior Specialist Europol Criminal Asset Bureau burkhard.muehl@europol.europa.eu Danube Strategy Seminar – Adressing the links between Organised Crime and Corruption Blagoevgrad, 27 February – 1 March 2013

2. Revenue of crime in general 70 % of all crimes are committed for financial gain In 2009 all criminal proceeds have amounted up to US Dollar 2.1 trillion, i.e. 3,6 % of the global GDP (UNODC-2011) Corrupt money associated with bribes received by public officials from developing and transitional countries is estimated to be $20 billion to $40 billion per year (World Bank, 2009). UK estimates that the yearly revenue of OC is 15 Billion Pound a year At present only a small amount of crime proceeds are seized and confiscated - less than 1% at global level (UNODC-2011)

3. EU strategy against corruption • Four out of five EU citizens regard corruption as a major problem in their Member State. Corruption is estimated to cost the economy of the EU €120 billion per year (=one percent of the EU GDP, and represents only a little less than the annual budget of the European Union) • Corruption harms all Member States and the EU as a whole, lowering investment levels, hampering the fair operation of the internal market and reducing public finances • Corruption has many variations, i.e. political corruption, corrupt activities committed by and with organised criminal groups, private-to-private corruption or so-called petty corruption

4. EU strategy against corruption • EU Anti-Corruption Report, to monitor and assess Member States' efforts against corruption and encourage more political engagement • = new evaluation mechanism to assess anti-corruption efforts in the EUEU Anti-Corruption Report; will identify trends and weaknesses that need to be addressed, as well as stimulate peer learning and exchange of best practices • Report issued every two years, starting in 2013 • Further actions in the coming years will focus on new rules for confiscating criminal assets, a plan for how to improve the gathering of crime statistics, and an strategy to improve criminal financial investigations in Member States.

5. EU strategy against corruption • MS should ensure that financial investigations are pursued effectively and consistently in corruption cases • Commission will adopt a strategy in 2012 to strengthen the quality of financial investigations in the MS and the development of financial intelligence to be shared between authorities within MS, as well as between MS and EU agencies and at international level. • Europol is asked by the Commission to step up its efforts to combat corruption as a facilitator for organised crime. This should include the production of regular threat assessments.

6. Europol’s role in fighting corruption • Fighting Corruption is part of Europol’s mandate • Europol is fully associated with the EACN (Council Decision 2009-371-JHA) • Corruption investigations are handled within the relevant analytical work files and focal points • The Europol Criminal Assets Bureau is competent for recovering the proceeds from corruption

7. Europol’s role in fighting corruption • Until recently corruption was considered as a national crime phenomenon, with little need for international co-ordination • Large scale corruption cases are increasingly of international dimension, involving several member states and thus creating a need for co-ordination, e.g. by Europol • The establishment of JITs is an excellent tool to co-ordinate corruption investigations.

8. Corruption and organised crime • Corruption clearly is a facilitator for organised crime • Criminal groups established in the EU are willing and able to use influence and corruption on various levels of society, including in local and national politics, local government, the judiciary, the media, law enforcement and border controls.

9. Corruption and organised crime • Corruption is mainly triggered by the prospect of financial gain • Money flows linked to corrupt activities are often disguised by making sophisticated use of offshore companies and financial intermediaries • The main purpose is to hide the true beneficiaries of the corruption and there the money is laundered at international level

10. Corruption and organised crime • It is important to identify the type and level of corruption used by criminal groups in order to build suitable counter strategies. • The fight against OC must specifically target criminal groups who try to corrupt decision makers, law enforcement and judicial authorities • SOCTA 2011 – nexus to corruption in trafficking of human beings and environmental crime highlighted

11. Corruption and organised crime • Case example – illicit cigarette market • Country X – in 2010 illicit cigarette estimated to be • 36 % of the cigarette overall market. After the arrest • of 200 border police an d customs officials it is • estimated that the illicit cigarette market has dropped • to 14 %, leading to a yearly budget increase of 400 • to 500million Euro.