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EU Statement at the Eleventh Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, delivered under the General Discussion on 18 October 2022

18.10.2022
Vienna
Press and information team of the Delegation to UN and OSCE in Vienna

Mr President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. The following countries align themselves with this statement: North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Serbia*, Albania*, Ukraine*, the Republic of Moldova*, Bosnia and Herzegovina*, Iceland+, Liechtenstein+ and Norway+.

Mr President,

This Conference convenes at a time when serious crimes in breach of the UN Charter and international law are being committed against the population of a country only a few hundred kilometres from Vienna. Russia will claim, as always, that this has nothing to do with this Conference and with the Convention. But Article 4(1) of the UNTOTC explicitly mandates that “States Parties shall carry out their obligations … in a manner consistent with the principles of sovereign equality and territorial integrity of States”. Let me quote the Secretary-General of the United Nations: “The position of the United Nations is unequivocal: we are fully committed to the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders, in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions.”[1] The European Union is equally unequivocal: we demand that Russia immediately cease its military aggression, withdraw all its troops from the entire territory of Ukraine and fully respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence within its internationally recognised borders. We therefore firmly reject and condemn the illegal attempted annexation by Russia of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

Let me now turn to the fight against organised crime and the implementation of the Convention in the European Union.

As highlighted in the 2021 European Union Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment[2], organised crime is a significant threat to European citizens, business, and state institutions, as well as to the economy as a whole. With criminal revenues amounting to almost €140 billion[3] every year, organised crime infiltrates the legal society and distorts competition, destroys livelihoods through violence and corruption, and acts as a fundamental threat to the rule of law. Given the cross-border nature of organised criminal activities, it is paramount to maintain strong international cooperation to tackle this threat and ensure our common security.

Against that background, the European Commission adopted the first EU Strategy to tackle organised crime for the period 2021-2025, which highlights the crucial importance of boosting law enforcement and judicial cooperation, disrupting organised crime structures and tackling high priority crimes, eliminating the profits generated by organised crime and making law enforcement and the judiciary fit for the digital age. The Strategy aims to tackle not only individual crimes, but also dismantle the organised criminal groups behind those crimes, and destroy their business model, notably through confiscation, asset recovery and anti-money laundering.

To that end, in May 2022, the Commission presented a proposal for a new Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation, which provides a new comprehensive set of rules that addresses asset recovery from beginning to end - from tracing and identification, through freezing and management, to confiscation and final disposal of assets. Any effective fight against organised crime must apply the “follow the money” principle.

Moreover, building upon the existing Anti-Money Laundering Directive[4], and the Directive on combating money laundering by criminal law, the European Commission adopted a new Anti-money laundering package, proposing to establish a single rulebook directly applicable to private entities, and an EU Anti-Money Laundering Agency that will strengthen EU-level supervision and support the work of national Financial Intelligence Units.

Confiscation, asset recovery and anti-money laundering measures are also crucial in the fight against drug trafficking, which represents a major source of income for organised crime groups in the EU. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), whose mandate is currently being revised, will have an enhanced capacity to work on drug-supply related issues, and notably to collect and analyse data on drug markets and related crimes to contribute to a better understanding of drug markets and supporting more effective policy making and law enforcement. The EU takes an evidence-based, integrated, balanced and multidisciplinary approach to the drugs phenomenon at national, EU and international level.[5]

Combating crime requires a holistic approach, as profits made out of, for instance, trafficking of cultural goods and environmental crime help funding other organised crime activities such as trafficking in drugs and in human beings. The EU and its Member States will continue to promote the fight against these phenomena, which are the topics of two draft resolutions, including as regards the recourse to international law to protect the environment, like the recent Regional Workshop on the UNODC Legislative Guide on Waste Trafficking organized in Bucharest.

With a large part of criminals operating across borders, law enforcement must be able to work together quickly and efficiently. The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), was strengthened in June 2022, when key amendments to its legal basis entered into force. In December 2021, a new package of measures to improve law enforcement cooperation across Member States was proposed to give EU police officers more modern tools for information exchange and rules on automated data exchange.

Let me give you a concrete example how enhanced police cooperation in the EU can tackle organised crime. Over the last years, three major operations against criminals using encrypted communication devices have taken place

  • to dismantle EncroChat, an encrypted phone network widely used by criminal networks;
  • to block its successor, Sky ECC; and
  • to carry out the international operation Trojan Shield/Greenlight.
  • In total, national authorities have carried out more than 10,000 arrests, apprehended almost 250 tonnes of drugs, and seized more than EUR 600 million in cash as well as other assets, including hundreds of vehicles, vessels, aircraft and luxury articles.

Encrypted communication is also widely used in a particularly heinous crime: Child sexual abuse online. In May, the Commission therefore proposed new EU legislation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse online, an issue exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed rules will oblige providers to prevent child sexual abuse online in their services through child safety by design, and, if needed, detect, report and remove child sexual abuse material on their services.

Furthermore, the EU recognizes the importance of the ongoing work of the UN Ad Hoc Committee negotiating a UN Convention on cybercrime to address challenges relating to cybercrimes and cross-border access to electronic evidence. This convention should build on the existing international legal framework, include a strong framework for the protection of human rights and the rule of law, and provide an effective tool for practitioners all over the world.

Mr. President,

All these efforts, which together contribute in making the EU a strong international partner in the fight against serious and organised crime, would be impossible to achieve without the significant contribution from other stakeholders, such as civil society: Private companies report abuse on their platforms. NGOs like the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime (GI-TOC) publish studies and advice. Investigative journalists report on organised crime and corruption like in the Panama and Pandora Papers. Excluding some of them on unfounded and spurious allegations not only runs counter to the spirit of inclusivity and transparency intended for the Convention but undermines the fight against organised crime itself. We will therefore continue our efforts to overcome these objections. Therefore, we are supporting the draft decision on this issue tabled by a large number of member States.

Mr. President,

There can be no effective fight against organised crime without strong international cooperation. Therefore, the European Union wishes to reaffirm its support to the full implementation of the UNTOC and its Protocols, and appreciates the work of UNODC, as guardian of the Convention and a strategic partner of the EU.

Thank you, Mr President.

 

 

* Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, as well as potential Candidate Country Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

+ Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are members of the EFTA and of the European Economic Area.

 

 

[1] Remarks to the press on Russian decision on annexation of Ukrainian territory, 29 September 2022.

[2] Europol, 2021 European Union Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (EU SOCTA), 12 April 2021, https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/european-union-serious-and-organised-crime-threat-assessment .The EU SOCTA is a comprehensive organised crime threat analysis identifying high priority crime areas produced every four years by Europol, on the basis of Member States’ contributions. 

[3] Study on Mapping the risk of serious and organised crime infiltration in legitimate businesses, March 2021, DR0221244ENN, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2837/64101 . 

[4] AMLD4 adopted in 2015 and amended in 2018.