Voorstel EP-leden: criminelen toegang tot EU-verkiezingen en openbare aanbestedingen ontzeggen (en)
Anyone convicted of a serious crime or corruption should be barred from tendering for public contracts or standing for election in the EU for at least five years, says the Special Committee on Organised Crime in a resolution voted on Tuesday. Mafia membership should be made a crime throughout the EU, and EU-wide rules drawn up on how to use confiscated mafia assets for social purposes, it adds.
The European Commission estimates that global income from criminal activities amounts to 3.6% of global GDP, while corruption in the EU costs an estimated 1% of EU GDP.
Stepping up cross-border judicial and police cooperation within the EU and with third countries is vital to protect financial interests in the EU against organised crime, corruption and money laundering, says the resolution, prepared by Salvatore Iacolino i (EPP, IT).
Five-year ban from public tenders and elections
Anyone convicted for serious crimes against the public interest, such as human trafficking and child labour, corruption, or money laundering should be barred from tendering for any contract in the EU for at least five years, Members agreed. Furthermore, anyone convicted of corruption should be barred from standing for election to public office, again for at least 5 years, they added.
Confiscating criminal assets
All member states should simplify their rules on confiscating criminals' assets, says the committee, suggesting that confiscation could take place even before the end of a trial, if permitted by a judicial authority. The text proposes allowing confiscated assets, such as buildings or vehicles, to be used to benefit the community.
Proposed rules on confiscating such assets will be put to a vote in the Civil Liberties Committee on Tuesday.
Defining "organised crime"
EU member states could coordinate their efforts to fight mafia-style crime better if they were to agree on a common definition of "organised crime" that stresses the "business orientated" nature of mafias and their "power of intimidation" and also makes it a crime to belong to a mafia-style organisation, says the committee.
Combatting corruption
To step up the fight against corruption, Members called on the Commission to table legislative proposal to set up an EU programme to protect whistleblowers, witnesses and informers. They also asked it to table a proposal, before September this year, to establish an EU public prosecutor.
These proposals are set out in the committee's mid-term report, approved with 24 votes in favour and 5 abstentions. This report is to be put to a plenary vote in Strasbourg in June. By the end of the year, Members will approve a comprehensive strategy to step up the fight against cross-border crime.
In the chair: Sonia Alfano (ALDE, IT) Procedure: non-legislative resolution