Dutch call for more cooperation among public authorities to fight organized crime

Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ard van der Steur called Monday for a closer and more uniform cooperation among public authorities across European Union (EU) member states in fighting against organized crime.

"To tackle organized crime effectively law enforcement and criminal justice authorities need to work with the agencies and institutions involved," the Dutch minister said during a conference in Amsterdam. "We should set up a powerful, effective network to link up the member states at national, regional and local level."

Local and other public authorities, including municipalities, tax offices, labor inspectorates, fiscal information and investigation services as well as players like housing associations and banks can be effectively deployed to prevent and fight against organized crime, van der Steur said.

The Dutch government, holding the EU presidency during the current semester, is working towards the further development of an integrated approach to organized crime, focusing on the introduction of administrative measures and information exchange between administrative authorities and law enforcement agencies both at member states and at EU level.

The need to remove bottlenecks in information sharing has gained common ground within the EU, especially following confirmation of strong connection between organized crime and terrorist acts. But "there are big differences among member states," said the Dutch minister.

A recent study by professor of criminology at Tilburg University Toine Spapens and professor Dirk van Daele of the Leuvens Institute for Criminology in Belgium revealed big differences on the legal options and applications of the administrative approach in 10 EU member states.

An institutional framework should be developed to help setting up an integrated EU platform gathering representatives from different administrative institutions and judicial authorities, suggested the Dutch minister. Endit