Activities of Viola VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL related to 2021/2002(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Cooperation on the fight against organised crime in the Western Balkans (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on cooperation on the fight against organised crime in the Western Balkans
Amendments (31)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
— having regard to the activities of the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) and the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF),
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 15 a (new)
Citation 15 a (new)
— having regard to the Berlin Process and the 2018 anti-corruption pledges made by the Western Balkan countries,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas corruption and organised crime remain a serious concern across the Western Balkan region; whereas organised crime networks are closely interlinked and rooted in EU member states and non-EU member states;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas organised crime in the Western Balkans is a structural problem with deeply rooted links to business and state institutions, as one of the symptoms of state capture, which reforms relating to the EU integration process aim to overcome;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas organised crime and corruption go hand in hand with money- laundering activities, tax evasion, clientelism as well as impunity;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas organised criminal groups collaborate well across borders and ethnic lines, in comparison to the police and judicial authorities of the Western Balkan countries, which lackurgently need to improve such coordination;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas harmonised legal frameworks, their effective implementation, and independent anti- corruption and counter-crime bodies, as well as a genuine political will are key to the eradication of organised crime;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas civil society organisations have established themselves as important stakeholders in the fight against organised crime and corruption across the region, since they play a crucial role in particular in monitoring the situation and evaluating anticorruption policies;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas more research and more reliable data on organised crime is needed to better design effective policy responses to organised crime and corruption in the region;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
Ec. whereas education plays a key role in preventing crime and promoting a culture of lawfulness;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the threat posed by criminals originating from the Western Balkans has been wrongfully used as an argument against EU accession in some countries;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines that depriving countries of the Western Balkans of a European perspective is worsening rather than improving the situation as regards organised crime, and underlines that only by fostering the EU integration process can it be improved;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. NoteRegrets that the rule of law and the fight against corruption and organised crime are areas in which the authorities in the Western Balkan countries need to show more progreshave failed to meaningfully progress; urges them to significantly step up their efforts and prove their political will to advance the necessary reforms on their EU path; calls for the EU to promote, as a priority of enlargement policy, the correct transposition of relevant international instruments targeting corruption and organised crime;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Regrets the lack of genuine political will of parts of the local political elites to fight organised crime, corruption and eliminating any elements of state capture;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Deplores the lack of independence of the judiciary in the Western Balkan countries and urges that a more strategic approach be adopted in addressing challenges posed by organised crime; calls for the EU to provide further assistance in order to stimulate a culture of criminal justice professionalism and performance and to improve the integrity of the judiciary;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the transposition into national laws by the Western Balkan countries of EU and international standards on asset recovery; regrets, however, that implementation remains low and urges Western Balkan authorities to establish a solid track record in recovering such assets to the benefit of all their citizens; urges the jurisdictions in the region to establish the confiscation of proceeds and instrumentalities of crime as a priority in the fight against corruption and organised crime; calls in this context for sufficient resources, highlighting in particular the need to increase expertise in financial forensics in public prosecutor’s offices;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Western Balkan countries to target criminal organisations rather than individual cases, while establishing a decent track record in prosecuting and convicting high-profile criminals; underlines the importance of cooperating witnesses turning state’s evidence for defeating organised crime networks; urges the relevant authorities to strengthen the protection of informants and whistleblowers, including their close relatives, to increase the capacity to dismantle organised criminal groups; encourages an exchange of best practices with EU member states, who have been successful in the fight against organised crime; invites countries in the Western Balkans to adopt similar legislation following the example of the Italian “pentito” legislation, which successfully led to the defeat of several organised crime groups; calls on EU Member States to support witness protection schemes, including through relocation;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Is highly alerted by reports about high-level government officials and politicians being deeply involved in organised crime structures;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Reminds that the EU’s Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III) foresees a strong conditionality and funding must be modulated or even suspended in the case of significant regression or persistent lack of progress in the area of the so-called “fundamentals”, notably in the field of the rule of law and fundamental rights, including fight against corruption and organised crime, as well as media freedom; stresses that it is in the EU’s own security interests and its responsibility to guarantee that EU funds do not become counterproductive by strengthening clientelistic networks of corrupt politicians and privileged businesses; calls in this context upon the EU and the Western Balkan countries to establish a framework for a fruitful cooperation between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the Western Balkan countries, in order to ensure that the EPPO can effectively exert its competences in the area of EU funds, in particular in the area of IPA III funds in the Western Balkan countries;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Welcomes the renewed constructive US engagement in the Western Balkans, including their focus on the fight against corruption; highlights in this context the US Executive Order sanctioning persons contributing to the destabilising situation in the Western Balkans, as well as the US action targeting individuals and entities for their significant acts of corruption in Bulgaria and former Albanian Prime Minister Berisha; calls on the EU to thoroughly assess a possible alignment to such actions;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that the Western Balkan countries are both an origin of and a destination for trafficking in human beings; calls on the relevant authorities to place more focus on prevention and strengthening the resilience of groups that are vulnerable to the risks of trafficking in human beings, while underlining the need for an intersectional gender-sensitive approach; welcomes joint actions carried out with international partners, including Interpol and Europol, which have led to the arrests of suspected traffickers and migrantpeople smugglers;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that the Western Balkan countries serve as a transit corridor for migrants and refugees and that the large population movements in recent years have posed an enormous challenge to the region in fighting the smuggling of migrantpeople, as well as in protecting fundamental rights of the smuggled persons, in particular of unaccompanied minors; calls for greater exchange of information and enhanced coordination between countries of the Western Balkans, and encourages the EU and its Member States to provide more assistance in addressing these issues through, inter alia, the Joint Operational Office and the Operational Platform – Eastern Mediterranean Route, as well as through assistance in establishing dignified reception conditions, including special safeguards for unaccompanied minors, offering safe and orderly pathways, with the view to significantly strengthening capacity for processing asylum claims and improving cooperation with the EU on among others resettlement and access to asylum;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Underlines that tackling criminal finances is crucial to uncover criminal activities and prevent infiltration into the legal economy; highlights that beneficial ownership transparency has emerged as an important policy tool for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, as well as fighting tax evasion; welcomes the efforts of the governments of the Western Balkan countries to address money laundering, including through the adoption of revised anti-money laundering frameworks; reiterates, however, that adequate implementation is still lacking and enforcing due diligence provisions, as well as beneficial ownership transparency need to be significantly improved, including in the banking sector;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Welcomes the increased cooperation between the EU and the Western Balkan countries in the fight against organised crime and encourages the EU to further support capacity building in the Western Balkans and the facilitation of police and judicial cooperation in countering organised crime; stresses that any cooperation agreement between EU agencies/ structures and third countries must be in full respect for fundamental rights and an adequate level of data protection ensured, as pre-condition for a successful police and judicial cooperation;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Underlines that Interpol is an important instrument in the fight against organised crime; regrets that Kosovo is not yet a member of Interpol, despite its multiple attempts to become one; calls for Kosovo’s inclusion in Interpol and on EU Member States to proactively support Kosovo's bid to join this organisation;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Reiterates the need to increase the focus on prevention activities and education, as well as a proper understanding of citizenship, and to increase resilience, paying greater attention to socio-economic conditions, especially in suburban and rural areas, and providing support for local initiatives to reduce vulnerability to crime and corruption, while stressing the need for an intersectional gender sensitive approach;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 d (new)
Paragraph 22 d (new)
22d. Underlines the need for more in- depth interdisciplinary research into the topic of organised crime in the region, for a database assembling relevant and reliable data on organised crime and for an intersectional gender sensitive approach to better design evidence-based efficient policies to prevent and tackle organised crime and corruption;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Underlines the crucial role of civil society organisations (CSO) in monitoring the work of governments and assessing track records in fighting organised crime; notes that legal and institutional frameworks for CSO participation are largely in place in the Western Balkan countries but regrets that their potential is not being used to the full extent; calls for strengthening their inclusion in the legislative process, ensuring their meaningful contribution to key pieces of legislation, including free access to information, public procurement, protection of whistleblowers, declaration and confiscation of illegal assets; calls in this context on Western Balkan authorities to urgently develop and adopt improved laws on free access to information through inclusive processes, involving CSOs, journalists and external experts;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Commends the valuable work of investigative journalists reporting on high- profile cases and disclosing links between organised criminal groups, politicians and businesses; strongly condemns intimidation, hate speech and slandering campaigns against investigative journalists and civil society; calls on the authorities to ensure their protection, in particular when propagated by representatives of governments, ruling parties and government-controlled media; calls on the authorities to ensure their protection and to provide conditions conducive to the effective exercise of freedom of expression, which is one of the EU’s fundamental values; reiterates its call on the Commission and the EEAS to strengthen their cooperation with and support for civil society, NGOs and independent media on the ground, reform-oriented policy makers, academia and independent media on the ground, as well as to increase their support for them; encourages the Commission and the local EU Delegations to work together with local stakeholders to establish procedures for regular trial monitoring of corruption and organised- crime cases;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Deeply regrets the increasing number of SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) cases, which are often used by corporations and governments to threaten and sue journalists and individuals in order to silence them and to prevent them from exposing wrongdoings of those in power, thus making a public debate impossible;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Paragraph 24 b (new)
22b. Calls on Western Balkan authorities to significantly increase their efforts and work towards transparency of media ownership, newsroom independence and safeguarding media freedom from political interference, as key elements of a free democratic society and essential for the success in the fight against organised crime and corruption;