Following the first day of the Home Affairs ministers’ meeting (see EUROPE 13227/12, 13227/10), their Justice counterparts met informally in Logroño (Spain) on Friday 21 July. While the morning was devoted to access to justice and the protection of victims, the European justice ministers addressed the need to meet the challenges posed by organised crime within the European Union during their final working session.
Spain’s Minister of Justice, María Pilar Llop Cuenca, stressed that this “transnational” phenomenon was a growing concern affecting all EU countries, not least because of the exponential use of new technologies by these organisations to evade the authorities.
The fight against the financing of organised crime and the use of crypto-assets. At the heart of the debates, therefore, were the fight against the financing of organised crime and the exponential use of crypto-assets for highly technologically sophisticated financial transactions, making them difficult to trace.
The ministers agreed on the need for a common approach to combating these cross-border criminal activities. Cooperation between judicial authorities, police forces and private companies has been identified as an essential element in this fight against well-organised criminal organisations.
How judicial authorities can adapt to rapid technological change. The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, has stressed the need for judicial authorities to adapt to rapid technological change. He recalled the existence of an effective “toolbox” within the European Union, thanks to the work of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and Eurojust, to meet these challenges.
Mr Reynders also “welcomed” the recent adoption of a package on electronic evidence (see EUROPE 13200/7), which will enable investigators to work and fight transnational organised crime more effectively.
The European Commissioner for Justice discussed the regulations recently adopted in May concerning the crypto-asset market and transfers of funds (see EUROPE 13183/4). These regulations now give the judicial authorities the ability to analyse and monitor transactions carried out by criminal groups while respecting fundamental rights.
However, Mr Reynders stressed that this field, which is constantly evolving, will require “ongoing training” and “exchanges of best practice between Member States” to stay ahead of criminal groups.
Closer cooperation with the private sector. Didier Reynders stressed the importance of attracting skilled people into the artificial intelligence sector to meet the technological challenges posed by organised crime.
Like María Pilar Llop Cuenca, he also called for greater cooperation between Member States and the private sector, stressing that certain private companies, by their very nature, could provide crucial information for investigations. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)