Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-05-23-Speech-3-402"
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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Newton Dunn, on this report. I think that it is clear to everyone how important it is to develop all means at our disposal to combat organised crime, and nobody, I believe, can have any doubts on the matter. I will restrict myself to giving some brief information on some recent progress made by the European Union in this field and some initiatives that the European Commission will launch very soon.
Of course, all this activity that we are carrying out must always achieve a balance between security requirements, which are, as I am personally convinced, a fundamental right of citizens. Citizens have a right to security, but alongside security there are other rights, which are also fundamental rights, and therefore I believe that the issue of data protection in the field of police cooperation – an issue which has not yet received a positive response from the Council, despite my proposal of a year and a half ago – should finally receive a systematic response, namely a European legislative initiative on data protection in the so-called third pillar. This will also act to give citizens a tangible sign that, alongside taking strong action against organised crime, we strongly respect other fundamental rights such as the right to handling of personal data.
In all these spheres, I hope that the Council will decide in June to incorporate the provisions of the Prüm Treaty into European legislation, that is, I hope that instead of being, as it is today, mere enhanced cooperation between a few Member States, it will become a provision that is an integral part of Community legislation. If the Council, as I hope it will, lets this proposal pass, we will have taken a step forward.
Finally, I would like to point out two issues. Firstly, the implementation in practice of the new Agency for Fundamental Rights, which was set up in March. The Agency will be an important tool in ensuring that fundamental rights are respected, including at the request of Parliament or the Commission, with regard to cooperation and investigative police activities.
There is also the major issue of combating organised cybercrime. As you know, yesterday I presented a communication on cyber crime, which deals with various sectors of organised computer crime, from paedophilia to computerised attacks on banking systems. I believe that computer crime is one of the new frontiers on which this Parliament will clearly be able to work.
First of all, on the subject of improving knowledge of the phenomenon of organised crime, I am in especial agreement with the rapporteur. We do not have a precise framework of knowledge on the dimensions of this criminal phenomenon and the movements of organised crime. In this sphere, the development of Europol’s activities is particularly valuable. As you know, starting this year, 2007, Europol will publish and has proposed to supplement its traditional informative report on the state of crime in Europe with an annual threat assessment. The Europol report will thus be a proactive report, not just an informative one; that is, it will indicate, year by year, the sectors in which the threat of organised crime has grown and, as we hope, also those in which the threat has diminished. Unfortunately, we are seeing a growing increase in all the main spheres of organised crime.
Another important result, which the rapporteur referred to just now, is European activity in the field of crime statistics. Up until now we have not had a statistical framework. You will remember that in a communication adopted last year I proposed a Europe-wide system of crime statistics. We have already put together a group of experts, and I can say with satisfaction that Eurostat has already brought out the first publication of statistical data on offences across Europe. We are beginning to produce concrete results.
In the field of prevention, which is extremely important, we have decided to concentrate, for example, on the fight against corruption, which is often linked to organised crime networks. We have decided to set up a European network of national experts permanently linked together, precisely with a view to preventing corruption. I have decided to include in next year’s programme
the 2008 programme
an initiative that will explore the links between corruption, money-laundering and thus organised crime networks. This is a sector on which Europe must work harder.
Next, there is a major action with regard to trafficking in human beings; there is an action plan, which has already been adopted and which is in the process of being developed and implemented in practice. Besides, as you probably know, one of the measures we have promoted is an annual European day against trafficking in human beings, which will be a concrete signal of development, a realisation on a European scale that until now was inadequate.
We have also decided to concentrate on witness protection, which is a vital element when it comes to combating organised crime. I will make available to this Parliament a working document with some concrete proposals by the end of July this year, that is, within the next two months. This working document will be the outcome of an analysis that we carried out with the police and the legal authorities of the Member States on how witnesses should be protected in the fight against organised crime, because, if witnesses are not protected, a fundamental element for combating organised crime fails.
On police cooperation and judicial cooperation, coordination should be stepped up, above all between Europol and Eurojust. Admittedly, a multidisciplinary approach is vital, and we have done a lot for Europol. I have proposed new rules of procedure for Europol so as to increase its powers, extend its mandate and give it more flexibility; organised crime is unfortunately very adaptable, and thus Europol must also be much more flexible. I hope that, in the case of Europol, the Council will accept our proposal for Community funding. This would have an immediate advantage, that of the European Parliament’s having democratic control of the use of Europol’s budget, which will thus be subject in what I would call a more transparent manner to a democratic parliamentary control authority.
As you know, the Council still has some reservations about accepting this proposal of mine. On the operational front, Europol is getting stronger. Where is the weak point? The weak point is that the Member States are not forwarding to Europol the necessary amount of operational information that Europol needs in order to coordinate its activities. You probably know that 70% of the data in Europol’s central computer system comes from only five Member States, and the remaining 30% from all the others. This demonstrates what Europol’s potential could be if all the Member States contributed better. This is something that they will now have to do because all three Europol protocols have entered into force and thus cooperation will be improved.
For Eurojust too, we need to do more. I will certainly put forward a proposal on Eurojust this autumn, I believe in October or November, and this will be a proposal to strengthen Eurojust’s powers of initiative. The point that will be at the heart of my initiative will be the involvement of Eurojust – I would say involvement on a normal and systematic basis – with joint investigation teams. These joint investigation teams are a basic tool for combating crime, and Eurojust is being called on to participate in the joint investigation teams in a way that is insufficient, non-systematic and sometimes incidental. This is no good. Eurojust must be a regular participant in the joint investigation teams, in order to increase their capabilities."@en1
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