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MEPs demand new EU rules to tackle organized crime, corruption

Xinhua, October 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

At a meeting for a plenary session here, the European Parliament overwhelmingly adopted a resolution on Tuesday calling for new European Union (EU) rules to better equip members in the fight against organized crime and corruption.

The non-legislative resolution, passed with 545 votes in favor, 91 against and 61 abstentions, urges the European Commission to adopt a European action plan to tackle organized crime, fraud and corruption, as already outlined in a resolution from October 2013, and make it a political priority.

"Europe needs to understand the complex issue of organized crime and the danger arising from the infiltration of criminal associations into the social, economic, and political fabric of the member states," declared rapporteur Laura Ferrara (Italy/European Freedom and Direct Democracy group).

In the resolution, Members of European Parliament (MEPs) called for broad EU initiatives, such as rules to allow members to seize assets from criminal organizations and to reuse them for social purposes. They also recommended the formation of a specialist unit of the European police agency, Europol, to combat criminal groups.

In a similar way, MEPs asked the European Commission to establish "blacklists of any undertakings which have proven links with organized crime or engaged in corrupt practices" and to "bar them from entering into an economic relationship with a public authority and benefitting from EU funds."

Barring organizations and individuals from participating in EU functioning, including barring them from either standing for office or working in European institutions, should function as a deterrent to organized crime and corruption, MEPs stressed.

At the time of the 2013 resolution, "action plan against organized crime, corruption and money laundering," Europol had identified some 3,600 criminal organizations operating within EU borders.

In 2014, the European Commission published a report estimating that corruption led to 120 billion euros (131 billion U.S. dollars) per year in costs for the EU, which is one percent of the EU GDP, or slightly less than the EU annual budget. Enditem