EU Statement at High-Level Segment of the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, 26 September 2026
Mr Chair, Excellencies, distinguished delegates,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Iceland, Montenegro, Norway, Republic of North Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine align themselves with this statement.
Chair,
We would first like to thank the United Arab Emirates for hosting the Fifteenth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Abu Dhabi. His Excellency Judge AlBlooshi guided us skilfully through the negotiations of the Declaration, which has the full support of the European Union and its Member States and provides a strong basis for our collective action in the years ahead. We are committed to its effective implementation. We also deeply appreciate the excellent work of the Secretariat under the leadership of Executive Director Monica Juma. The EU remains a strong, reliable partner of UNODC
We meet at a time when armed conflict, geopolitical, environmental and social instability, and attacks on the rules-based international order create unprecedented opportunities for criminal networks. Organised crime is no longer simply a law-enforcement challenge; it is a strategic threat to democratic governance, the rule of law, human rights, gender equality and international security. Addressing these threats requires effective crime prevention and criminal justice responses, including tackling the root causes of crime.
Protecting and supporting victims of all crimes, safeguarding their rights, ensuring equal access to justice for all and offering the help needed to cope with the damages for all remain non-negotiable pillars of our response. In this context, the recently adopted revision of the EU’s Victims’ Rights Directive is a powerful tool at our disposal. We also need to create opportunities for restorative justice, and promote trauma-informed, gender-transformative and child-sensitive approaches.
Chair,
The EU and its Member States are deeply alarmed by the scale, brutality, and profitability of migrant smuggling. Criminal networks treat human beings as commodities, exploiting vulnerability for immense financial gain with complete disregard for human life and dignity. These networks are closely intertwined with human trafficking, which is both a crime and a human rights violation, but also document fraud, corruption, and money laundering.
The Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling serves as a vital platform for strengthening international cooperation to dismantle the criminal business model, follow the money, and target those who profit from exploitation—not those who are exploited. We encourage all Member States, international organisations, and partners to join and actively contribute.
Crimes that affect the environment can cause irreversible harm to biodiversity and the environment, human health, and livelihoods while generating massive illicit profits, undermining the rule of law and contributing to instability. In this respect, the Environmental Crime Directive and the Council of Europe Convention on environmental crime significantly strengthen our fight against these crimes at national, regional and international levels. The EU and its Member States equally recognise the growing importance of tackling crime at sea.
A central driver across these criminal ecosystems is drug trafficking. The global drug phenomenon has become increasingly complex violent and dynamic with direct consequences for the safety, security, health and well-being of society and for international security. As reflected in the EU Drugs Strategy, we address the world drug situation through an evidence-based, integrated, multidisciplinary, and human rights-centred approach. The need for a common effort to tackle this threat, including a specific focus on prevention, rehabilitation and recovery, is also at the core of the European Coalition Against Drugs, an initiative shared by most countries in Europe.
Chair,
Corruption and money laundering are the oxygen on which organised crime depends. Corruption allows criminal groups to buy influence, capture institutions, and distort public decision-making. Money laundering nourishes criminal groups by protecting criminal proceeds. To prevent and reduce organised crime, we must deprive it of its profits through comprehensive anti-corruption frameworks, from the implementation of efficient integrity systems in public and private entities, awareness raising measures to stronger financial investigations, effective asset recovery, robust anti-money laundering measures and protection of whistleblowers. A robust response also requires stronger international cooperation and effective use of tools such as INTERPOL’s Silver Notice to support the identification and tracing of criminally acquired assets across borders. With the entry into force of the Anti-Corruption Directive in spring this year, the EU took a decisive step to further enhance the fight against corruption.
Furthermore, organised crime and terrorism increasingly intersect through illicit financial flows and the abuse of emerging technologies. We strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We call for strengthened international cooperation to counter terrorism, address radicalisation leading to violent extremism, disrupt terrorist financing, and combat trafficking in firearms as well as other forms of trafficking that generate proceeds and may be exploited by terrorist or criminal networks, including trafficking in cultural property—always in full respect of international law, including international human rights law.
Chair,
To counter these threats effectively, we must urgently strengthen international judicial and law enforcement cooperation while reinforcing the effective implementation of our obligations under the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols, the UN Convention against Corruption, and promoting universal ratification of the UN Convention against Cybercrime and prioritising its implementation.
The European Union already works closely with third countries through a range of established judicial and law enforcement cooperation mechanisms, including partnerships facilitated through Eurojust and the European Judicial Network, as well as regional initiatives such as the EuroMed Justice Project, which are aimed at strengthening cooperation in criminal matters and supporting direct practitioner-to-practitioner engagement.
Notwithstanding this, the EU plans to strengthen the mandates of Eurojust, Europol and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, while building on existing cooperation frameworks and to expand their operational relations with their strategic partners.
The UN80 initiative aims to make the UN-system more efficient and coordinated with strengthened delivery on the ground and safeguarded normative mandates. It offers a timely opportunity to make UNODC stronger, more agile, more effective, and financially sustainable while preserving its core normative role and upholding multilingualism. As major contributors to UNODC’s budget, the EU and its Member States are committed to continue supporting UNODC’s vital work under a strong mandate.
Chair,
Effective crime prevention, including through holistic, evidence-based strategies that address the root causes and risk factors associated with crime, and criminal justice must be firmly grounded in the rule of law and human rights. Strong, independent, accessible and quality justice systems are the foundation of public trust and resilient societies. Investing in justice is an investment in security and stability This also requires multi-stakeholder partnerships, including with civil society.
Criminal networks have repeatedly shown how quickly they can exploit emerging technologies to expand, professionalize and diversify their operations, including digital tools and artificial intelligence, encrypted communications, online platforms, and cross-border illicit financial flows. This requires coordinated and adaptative responses. The EU is making use of technology to strengthen its criminal justice response, notably with the new e-evidence framework, which allows sharing electronic evidence quickly and efficiently across borders. While artificial intelligence and digital tools can strengthen justice systems and support our common fight against crime, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, privacy, and data protection must be fully safeguarded under clear legal frameworks and meaningful human oversight.
Finally, our commitment to human dignity means that the European Union and its Member States strongly oppose the death penalty in times and in all circumstances as an irrevocable, inhumane and cruel punishment. We call upon all States retaining it to establish a moratorium as a first step towards universal abolition.
The challenges before us are global, interconnected, and evolving. No State can confront them alone. The European Union and its Member States remain committed to strengthening multilateral cooperation to ensure that organised crime finds no safe haven, no impunity, and no profit.
As its Pledge4Justice commitment, the European Union pledges to launch significant new initiatives to counter organised crime and terrorism, such as the forthcoming Themis and Intercept projects, designed to strengthen capacity in the criminal justice and antitrafficking domains, thereby contributing to the implementation of the Abu Dhabi declaration.
Thank you, Chair.