The European Parliament has approved the creation of a special parliamentary commission to gauge the extent of organized crime, corruption and money laundering in the European Union and recommend measures to combat it, a European Parliament spokesperson said.
The European Commission is also stepping up the fight against organized crime.
“We must strike at the most sensitive point of the crime," said European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Cecilia Malmström, referring to a draft EU directive that facilitates and extends the forfeiture of capital and assets obtained illegally.
"Get their money back into the legal economy where it belongs. In times of crisis this is even more crucial. The new rules will better equip national authorities by sharpening and improving the tools at their disposal and will make it easier to use these tools across borders, to make sure that there is no safe haven for organized crime,” she said.
The draft directive makes it possible to confiscate assets where a criminal conviction is not possible because the suspect is dead, permanently ill or has fled. In addition, it will enable prosecutors to temporarily freeze assets.
The illegal drug trade in the EU brings criminal groups up to 100 billion euros a year, Malmström said, citing European Commission data.
The organized crime commission is to make its recommendations by April 2013, the European Parliament spokesperson said.
