EU Initiative on Fighting Organized Crime in South Eastern Europe

On November 25, 2002, at a conference in London the European Union and the countries of south eastern Europe announced an initiative to combat organized crime in south eastern Europe. The EU and the countries of south eastern Europe announced a commitment to closely coordinate with each other to: fight crime at the source by targeting criminals on their home territory; fight corruption; fight crime in transit by disrupting and ending network that cut across Europe and beyond and tracking illicit money; and fight crime at its destination, by targeting criminals operating on foreign territory and confiscating the proceeds of crime. The EU and the countries of south eastern Europe agree to strengthen regional cooperation by: sharing best practice on implementing reforms required to fulfill the obligations under SAP and other relevant EU processes, and sharing lessons learned on improving internal inter-agency cooperation, exchange of information and coordination; ensuring consistency among countries and across the region of new legislation that is comparable to European standards; participating in joint capacity building programs to further develop south eastern European law enforcement institutions to a common European standards across the whole-region; developing operational mechanisms in line with EU standards; and cooperation across the borders to develop joint anti-crime operations, promote judicial networking and mutual legal assistance, and exchange information necessary for combating crime at a regional level. These actions will support and complement the other commitments mentioned above and in the country-specific annexes detailing areas for priority action by the countries of south eastern Europe. Regional cooperation will help countries of south eastern Europe develop a common approach, and coopertion with the wider international community.