The Secretariat-General of the Council of the European Union has sent to the Member States, in a document dated 13 November of which EUROPE has obtained a copy, the Operational Action Plan (OAP) 2022 concerning the management and the objectives to be achieved regarding cyber attacks in the EU.
Created within the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT), the Operational Action Plan intends to focus on mapping crime networks.
On this aspect, around 15 EU Member States, the European Commission, Europol, and several third countries will pool their resources to “identify threats” and other criminal links.
Furthermore, the OAP also prioritises the joint preparation and conduct of coordinated prosecution actions.
In addition, the action plan also foresees targeting online and offline sales of illegal goods and services, and focusing on financing methods and money laundering.
“Identifying and tackling those obfuscating financial services can be one of the most effective way to identify suspected criminals”, the paper says.
Capacity building and cooperation
To achieve these objectives, the Operational Action Plan also lists the actions that will be undertaken this year.
A range of measures as well as capacity building through training, networking and innovation are foreseen, as well as increased exchange of “good practices” and “approaches”.
The text foresees that Member States as well as several European agencies take part in the activities and events that will be organised in this field throughout 2022.
Finally, in addition to placing prevention, awareness-raising, identification and assistance to victims at the centre of the process, the text stresses the importance of the international dimension and cooperation with non-EU States and partners.
The aim of the text for this aspect is, in part, to extend the power of action of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats by working with third parties.
The text, which at the same time identifies a list of potential partner States or States that may be of strategic interest, explains that operational data arising from the OAP actions will be examined by Europol’s analysis projects.
The national coordinators of the European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats will discuss the Operational Action Plan at their next meeting on 27 and 28 November.
See the document: https://bit.ly/3cnoaQI (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)