Following the opening of centres on the fight against cybercrime, terrorism, smuggling of migrants and serious forms of organised crime, on Friday 5 June Europol set up a European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (see EUROPE 12499/24).
At a press conference, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said that the opening of the centre comes “at the right time”. The economic crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic gives “an opportunity for organised crime groups to be stronger when the legal economy is weaker”, she said. The economic aid proposed in the context of the pandemic is and will be targeted by criminals, she observed.
“Financial crime costs the EU €110 billion a year”, said Catherine de Bolle, the agency's director, stressing that such a sum could be used to support European economies facing the crisis.
According to Europol data, 98.9% of criminal profits are not confiscated and remain in the hands of criminals. One of the main obstacles, according to de Bolle, is the limited sharing of financial information across borders. Digitisation is also a major additional challenge for law enforcement, she added.
The new centre will make it possible to strengthen operational support to the Member States and promote the systematic use of financial investigations.
It will be staffed with 65 experts and will cover a wide range of economic and financial crimes from tax evasion, money laundering and corruption to intellectual property infringement and counterfeiting.
The centre will also promote better cooperation between the public and private sectors. “Cooperation with banks is essential” Johansson said. The Commission also intends to look more closely at this subject in the context of the revision of Europol's mandate. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)