Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – MEP Giuseppe Antoci highlighted Europol’s report on criminal organizations infiltrating economies and called for stronger European anti-mafia legislation.
Giuseppe Antoci, Italian MEP , stated in a speech in the EU Parliament plenary that the latest Europol report documents an increasing infiltration of criminal organizations into economies. He noted that the data is impressive, revealing 821 criminal organizations, 86% of which can infiltrate the legal economy to disguise their activities or launder profits.
What does Europe‘s report reveal about criminal infiltration?
The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, said
“Organised crime is one of the biggest threats we face today, threatening society with corruption and extreme violence. We need to know what we’re fighting – that’s why mapping organised crime is a key objective of our EU organised crime strategy and the roadmap I launched last October. The result is this important report showing the criminal threat posed by over 800 criminal networks with tens of thousands of members.”
Giuseppe Antoci emphasized that, through corruption, threats, and intimidation, criminal organizations gain control of companies, secure concessions and contracts, and operate across multiple countries, negatively affecting millions of European citizens. He urged for strengthened coordination between police forces and prosecutors in the Member States.
Why is Italian legislation considered a model for the EU?
MEP pointed out that Italian legislation is unfortunately leading in this area and has been adopted as a model in various European measures. He noted that an important step was made in the last legislature with the revision of the directive on seizure and confiscation.
He acknowledged that much remains to be done and emphasized the need for further harmonization of anti-mafia legislation at the European level. He asserted that being a member of a mafia-type organization should be considered a crime across Europe, as stipulated in Article 416 bis of the Italian Penal Code.
In Italian regulation, Article 41-bis of the Prison Administration Act, also understood as carcere duro, is a provision that permits the Minister of Justice or the Minister of the Interior to suspend certain prison regulations and set practically complete isolation upon a prisoner.
