Organised crime is a threat to European citizens, businesses, state institutions as well as the economy. Criminals easily operate across borders, which creates a need for consistent European–level action. The EU continuously adapts its response in relation to the growing complexity of the situation, including the development of specialised EU agencies, such as Europol, Eurojust and CEPOL. On 1 April 2025, the European Commission adopted ProtectEU: a new European Internal Security Strategy, which sets out priorities to protect the EU's security from all threats, including from organised crime, both online and offline. The Strategy prioritises actions to tackle criminal networks by: investing in crime prevention and security capabilities; boosting law enforcement and judicial cooperation; disrupting the organisation of criminal networks; and eliminating the profits generated by organised crime. Trafficking in human beingsTrafficking in human beings is a highly profitable crime that brings enormous profit to criminals while incurring a tremendous cost to society.Trafficking in firearmsThe EU has been coordinating activities to counter firearms trafficking for several years, but new threats have emerged that demand new actions.Drug policyThe EU is taking strategic and operational measures to reduce drug supply and demand by working closely with EU countries and other partners.Financial investigationsFinancial investigations are essential for a modern and effective response to criminal threats, including terrorism financing.CounterfeitingCounterfeiting, infringements of intellectual property rights, and fake products constitute a serious threat to national economies, as well as to the health and safety of EU citizens.Confiscation and asset recoveryConfiscation and asset recovery are a strategic priority in the EU's fight against organised crime. Substantial efforts have been made to better trace and confiscate the proceeds of organised crime. Going after criminals' money Following the money is crucial in combatting organised crime. This is why the fight against criminal finances is a priority under ProtectEU.The criminalisation of money laundering was harmonised at EU-level with Directive 2018/1673.To prevent money laundering, the EU bolstered its efforts through the Anti-Money Laundering Package in 2024. This includes measures such as an EU-wide limit for cash payments, and better traceability of transfers in crypto assets. It also establishes a new EU Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, which strengthens cross-border cooperation of relevant authorities and accelerates access to information on bank, payment, crypto-asset and securities accounts. In addition, Directive 2019/1153 gives law enforcement access to bank account registers across the EU.Confiscation and asset recovery are essential to remove financial motives behind organised crime. Effective cooperation between EU States' authorities, in particular by effectively confiscating proceeds of crime, is key for taking away the money that fuels the activity of organised crime networks. The new Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation will help make the “follow the money” approach a reality on the ground. It requires Member States to launch financial investigations in parallel to any organised crime investigation. It also improves the possibility to take criminal money away by introducing the confiscation of unexplained wealth.Europol plays a central part in building capacity and fostering cross-border operations to tackle financial crime. Europol also closely monitors current and emerging threats related to financial and economic crime, with a dedicated European Financial and Economic Crime Centre. Check the report:The Other Side of the Coin: An Analysis of Financial and Economic Crime.In the context of financial investigations, cooperation with private partners in increasingly important – from traditional financial institutions to other important stakeholder such as crypto-asset service providers. Europol’s Financial-Intelligence Public-Private Partnership promotes cooperation between public authorities and private institutions in the fight against financial crime, including through guidance published in January 2025. The ProtectEU Strategy sets out further measures to follow financial flows and dismantle organised crime networks, including stronger action against underground banking, capacity building and closer cooperation with third countries misused by criminals as safe havens to hide their money.Counterfeiting and infringements of intellectual property rights are becoming increasingly widespread. They now include commodity goods and pharmaceuticals, which not only hurt legitimate commercial interests, but also put the health and safety of consumers at risk. This scalable and profitable business is generating income that can compete with drugs and firearms trafficking, but at a much lower risk for criminals.EU action to fight drug trafficking is closely connected to the fight against organised crime and to the protection of health. Organised crime groups make considerable profits from trafficking illegal drugs.As set out in ProtectEU, the EU is pursuing a balanced, evidence-based, and multidisciplinary drug policy, covering drug supply, drug demand and harm reduction, international cooperation, research, innovation and foresight and coordination between EU on the drugs phenomenon. This includes stepping up the fight against drug trafficking and the criminal networks behind it. Concrete actions taken by the Commission include strengthening the resilience of logistic hubs with a European Ports Alliance, dismantling criminal networks, supporting crime prevention measures and strengthening international cooperation.The European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) provides EU countries with factual overviews of the European drugs phenomenon and a solid evidence base to support the drugs debate. It also identifies and addresses current and future challenges related to illicit drugs in the EU.The EU also increasingly cooperates on specific crimes requiring a tailor-made approach, such as Trafficking in cultural goods, a complex, inherently transnational crime. This is a lucrative business for organised crime, and in some cases for conflict parties and terrorists. Beyond actual trafficking, criminals can misuse cultural goods for money laundering, sanctions evasion, tax evasion or terrorism financing. Tackling this crime area requires a tailor-made response at EU level. On 13 December 2022, the European Commission presented the EU action plan against trafficking in cultural goods.Environmental crime deserves particular attention due to its harmful effects on biodiversity and on the environment, health and social cohesion within the EU and in third countries. Among the key tools to tackle this crime, the EU reinforced in 2024 the Environmental Crime Directive. How can the EU contribute to the fight against organised crime? Operational activities, such as pursuing and prosecuting criminals, remain the responsibility of EU countries. The Commission aims to assist EU countries in fighting organised crime more effectively. The EU's action extends from crime prevention to law enforcement and is based on various tools, such as funding of European projects or specialised networks. The Commission is also taking legislative measures harmonising rules concerning offences in relation to a criminal organisation. The Commission is currently revising its rules on organised crime, in order to facilitate the fight against high-risk criminal networks and to identify and prosecute their ringleaders. Modern organised crime requires a multi-disciplinary response. The EU has developed the so-called "Administrative approach", a combination of tools at administrative level to prevent organised crime from infiltrating the public sector, the economy of the public administration. Some EU countries are advanced in implementing this new approach, while others only recently discovered it. To further develop and implement the administrative approach, the Commission established a network of contact points for exchanging best practices. Documents ProtectEU: a European Internal Security StrategyEU Strategy on Combating Trafficking in human beings 2021-2025EU Drugs Strategy 2021-2025
Organised crime is a threat to European citizens, businesses, state institutions as well as the economy. Criminals easily operate across borders, which creates a need for consistent European–level action. The EU continuously adapts its response in relation to the growing complexity of the situation, including the development of specialised EU agencies, such as Europol, Eurojust and CEPOL. On 1 April 2025, the European Commission adopted ProtectEU: a new European Internal Security Strategy, which sets out priorities to protect the EU's security from all threats, including from organised crime, both online and offline. The Strategy prioritises actions to tackle criminal networks by: investing in crime prevention and security capabilities; boosting law enforcement and judicial cooperation; disrupting the organisation of criminal networks; and eliminating the profits generated by organised crime.
Trafficking in human beingsTrafficking in human beings is a highly profitable crime that brings enormous profit to criminals while incurring a tremendous cost to society.
Trafficking in firearmsThe EU has been coordinating activities to counter firearms trafficking for several years, but new threats have emerged that demand new actions.
Drug policyThe EU is taking strategic and operational measures to reduce drug supply and demand by working closely with EU countries and other partners.
Financial investigationsFinancial investigations are essential for a modern and effective response to criminal threats, including terrorism financing.
CounterfeitingCounterfeiting, infringements of intellectual property rights, and fake products constitute a serious threat to national economies, as well as to the health and safety of EU citizens.
Confiscation and asset recoveryConfiscation and asset recovery are a strategic priority in the EU's fight against organised crime. Substantial efforts have been made to better trace and confiscate the proceeds of organised crime.
