Instruments of the European Union in Fighting Organized Crime

The educational policy study presents to the wider public basic and up-to-date background information on policies, legislation, and institutional frameworks in which the EU conducts its anti-OC efforts.

The educational policy study is divided into three parts. The first chapter represents a short overview of the main EU anti-OC priorities and policies for the period 2018-2021. The following two chapters allow the reader to get acquainted with the EU institutional framework in the fight against OC and the main instruments the EU has developed to date. These instruments have been developed to help identify and overcome threats posed to the EU by serious and organised crime and strengthen cooperation between the EU Member States.

For each of the presented and explained institutions, instruments and policy solutions, the author has conducted a thorough review of EU legal acts that are in force in the Justice and Home Affairs policies of the EU. A review of the extensive research literature has been carried out as well, and recommendations for further reading on these topics are provided in the chapter “Reading List”, which represents an integral part of the policy study.

After each backgrounder, readers are provided with a list of official legislative frameworks connected with the respective institutions/instruments, and with official websites of these institutions and guidelines that could prove helpful for further research on these topics, such as programming documents, annual reports, infographics, statistical data and much more.

The educational policy study “EU Anti-OC Instruments” is currently implemented by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy as part of the project “Western Balkans Organised Crime Radar (WB-OCR)”, which aims to bridge the gap between the commitments made by the governments of the Western Balkans Six (WB6) in relation to tackling organized crime (OC) and the lackluster performance of their policies on the ground. The publication is financially supported by the Balkan Trust for Democracy, a project of a German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade..