44 Amendments of Laura FERRARA related to 2015/2110(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas in 2014, 1 649 irregularities were reported as being fraudulent and affecting the European budget to the tune of EUR 538.2 million, relating to both the expenditure side and the revenue side, but there are no official data on what percentage of fraud is attributable to organised crime;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A (new)
Recital A (new)
A. whereas organised crime is a global threat which therefore necessitates a common, coordinated response by the EU and its Member States;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B (new)
Recital B (new)
B. whereas we still do not fully understand the complex issue of organised crime and the danger arising from the infiltration of criminal associations into the social, economic, business, political and institutional fabric of the Member States;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C (new)
Recital C (new)
C. whereas organised criminal groups have shown a tendency and a strong ability to diversify their activities, adapting to different geographical areas and economic and social contexts and exploiting their weaknesses and vulnerabilities, simultaneously operating on different markets and taking advantage of the different laws in individual Member States to make their businesses prosper and to maximise profit;
Amendment 8 #
D. whereas criminal organisations have changed their modus operandi, availing themselves of the support of professionals, banks, civil servants and politicians who, although not members of the criminal organisation, support its activities at various levels;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E (new)
Recital E (new)
E. whereas criminal organisations have demonstrated a high degree of adaptability also in using the benefits of the new technologies to their advantage;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F (new)
Recital F (new)
F. whereas the dangerousness of the intimidatory power that can be exerted by the mere fact of belonging to an association is not a priority in comparison with combating 'target crimes' (the crimes that an association exists to commit) and whereas this has left a regulatory and operational gap at European level, facilitating transnational operations by organised criminal groups;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G (new)
Recital G (new)
G. whereas, besides the more obvious dangers to public policy and public security presented by the forms of violence which are typical of criminal organisations, organised crime causes equally serious problems in the form of penetration into the legal economy and associated conduct which corrupts public officials, with the consequent infiltration of institutions and the public administration;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H (new)
Recital H (new)
H. whereas the illegal proceeds of crimes committed by criminal organisations are widely laundered in the legal European economy; whereas such capital, once reinvested in the regular economy, constitutes a serious threat to free enterprise and competition, because it has a seriously distorting impact;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recognises that the Commission has proposed a vast array of measures to combat these crimes and that some results are already available (i.e. automatic information exchange, anti-money laundering directive); regrets, however, that there is still no instrument for the exchange of information regarding accounting entries between two or more Member States in order to prevent transnational fraud in respect of the Structural and Investment Funds, and calls on the Commission to draft such a proposal as soon as possible;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I (new)
Recital I (new)
I. whereas criminal groups gain access to politicians and administrators in order to tap the financial resources at the disposal of the public administration and to influence its activities with the connivance of politicians, officials and businesspeople; whereas their influence over politicians and administrators makes itself felt most of all in the sector of public procurement and public works, public funding, disposal of scrap and waste, and direct contracts for the procurement of all types of goods and the management of services;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Is concerned about the increase in VAT-related fraud, in particular so-called carousel fraud; calls on all Member States to participate in all of EUROFISC’s fields of activity so as to facilitate the exchange of information to help combat this kind of fraud;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2
Subheading 2
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for the Commission to complete, as soon as possible, its assessment of the measures taken to transpose these instruments, to inform Parliament in full of the findings and, if necessary, to initiate infringement proceedings; calls on the Commission, in particular, to submit a report assessing the transposition of Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA on the fight against organised crime and Directive 2008/99/EC on the protection of the environment through criminal law;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Recommends that a study be made of the national bodies of law which are most advanced in terms of fighting organised crime and corruption, in order to develop European legislation which is effective and pioneering;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Points out that transparency is the most effective instrument for combating abuse and fraud; calls on the Commission to improve legislation in this regard, making it compulsory to publish data relating to all the beneficiaries of EU funding, including data on subcontracts;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recommends that the EU become a member of GRECO and thus comply with the requirement laid down in the Treaties;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Is of the opinion that a common method for seizing criminal group’s assets in the EU cwould be a dissuasive measure for criminals; invites the Member States competent authorities to share best practices in this area within the existing meetings platforms, such as the Advisory Committee for the Coordination of Fraud Prevention (COCOLAF) and others; calls on Member States to swiftly transpose the directive on the confiscation of assets from crime and to promote the re-use of confiscated assets for social purposes, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls on the Commission to submit as soon as possible its second anti- corruption report, which ought to have been published at the beginning of 2016; calls on the Commission, in this context, to include a chapter concerning corruption at the European Union Institutions;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Points out that organised crime uses construction companies that specialise in earth moving to launder money and illegally dispose of toxic substances that cause environmental pollution; calls on the Commission, in order to prevent such practices, to carry out anti-crime inspections on contractors and subcontractors who are beneficiaries of contracts for major infrastructure projects financed by the EU budget;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Is concerned about the recurring practice of criminal companies involved in money laundering submitting below- cost bids in tender procedures for major projects; calls on the Commission to include an economic assessment of proposals in respect of companies that are awarded contracts and subcontractors;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Highlights the vital role of banks with regard to money laundering and, in this regard, calls on the Commission to draw up a proposal in order to ensure full transparency of bank flows not only for individuals, but also for legal entities and trusts;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Calls for banking licences to be withdrawn from banks involved in proven cases in which large amounts of money have been laundered;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Is concerned about the lack of any specific national legislation against organised crime in many Northern European countries; is aware that such a shortcoming offers a great opportunity for organised crime in relation to the trade in illegal products passing through the ports of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea; calls on the Commission to continue promoting exchanges of information and best practice between Member States in order to combat the entry of illegal goods into the EU;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Is concerned about the decline in resources made available by Member States to combat the illicit tobacco trade; calls on the Commission, when signing new agreements with the tobacco industry, to stipulate that the share of the proceeds from those agreements for the Member States should be tied, in their budgets, to measures to combat the smuggling of illicit tobacco products;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Takes the view that the current round of EU proposals concerning the fight against organised crime should place the emphasis on combating crimes of association (i.e. the fact of belonging to a criminal organisation), rather than simply combating so-called target crimes (i.e. crimes which such organisations are set up to commit); in particular, considers it necessary to make membership of a criminal organisation a criminal offence, separately from the commission of target crimes; reiterates that this round of proposals should also include combating money laundering among its priorities;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 – introductory part
Paragraph 10 – introductory part
10. Calls for a basic set of rules to bon the Commission, on the basis of the assessment of the dtrawn up concerning the definition of criminal offences and penalties in the field ofnsposition and application of the existing rules, to propose legislation to fill any gaps that may exist and to fight organised crime and corruption, in order to more effectively and improve cross-border judicial cooperation; calls, in particular, for:
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 – point a
Paragraph 10 – point a
(a) a new proposal to introduce stronger penalties and clarify the common definitions of crimes, including that of 'organised crime', which could be construed as being a structured group that has existed for a period of time and is made up of more than two persons who work together for the purpose of obtaining, directly or indirectly, any form of financial and/or material advantagegain, and which seriously undermines the social and economic cohesion of the EU and its Member States;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 10 – point a a (new)
(aa) submission of a new legislative proposal on organised crime of the Mafia type, taking into account the intimidatory force of association and the condition of subjection and the 'wall of silence' derived from it to commit offences, to directly or indirectly take over the management, or at least gain control, of economic activities, concessions, licences, public contracts and public services or to obtain unfair profits or advantages for oneself or others;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 – point b
Paragraph 10 – point b
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 – point c
Paragraph 10 – point c
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 – point d
Paragraph 10 – point d
(d) a revision of legislation to combat environmental crimes in order to monitor territory (including in cooperation with health establishments and/or universities: activation of soil and water pollution monitoring networks), measures against the activities of illegal waste disposal networks, promotion of forms of monitoring and penalties for businesses which dispose of waste illegally; making 'emerging pollutants', which are not yet recognised at Union level, illegal;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls on the Commission to draft minimum rules concerning the definition of offences and penalties; calls, in particular, for: (a) a general definition of 'public official' which is horizontally applicable; (b) definitions of the crimes of fraud and corruption; recalls in this context that the negotiations on the PIF Directive are currently blocked within the Council and calls for them to be resumed without delay; (c) legislation and programmes to protect whistle-blowers, witnesses and persons who cooperate with the judicial process;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 d (new)
Paragraph 11 d (new)
11d. Calls on the Commission to draw up a study on the investigative practices employed in the Member States to combat organised crime, with particular reference to the use of tools such as telephone interception, environmental interception, search procedures, delayed arrest, delayed seizure, undercover operations and controlled and supervised delivery operations; calls on the Commission to submit a proposal for a directive by the end of 2017 on common investigative techniques to combat organised crime, pursuant to Article 87(2)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Reiterates its call on the Commission to propose common judicial standards to increase integration and cooperation among Member States;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Calls on Member States to invest in the training of national operators who use European instruments, such as the European Police College and the European Judicial Training Network;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 7
Subheading 7
Preventing organised crime and corruption from infiltrating the legal economy
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Recommends that the number of central purchasing bodies be reduced, merging those which already exist at local or regional level and also establishing a single national purchasing body as a temporary system pending the implementation of the e-procurement system;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Recommends that the Member States and European Institutions introduce compulsory rotation of public officials to prevent corruption and infiltration by organised crime;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Calls on Member States to introduce measures to ban people who have been convicted of offences against the public administration, associative offences or corruption from standing for election and from working in or for the public administration;
Amendment 168 #
21. Points out that drug trafficking is a major money spinner for criminal groups and must be countered by means of both law enforcement and prevention; calls on Member States and the competent institutions to tackle the links between the drugs market and other criminal activities and the impact that they have on the legal economy and legal trade, as indicated by Europol and the EMCDDA in the report on the drugs market in 2016;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Notes that an evaluation of new policies on soft drugs is a priority and considers that decriminalisation/legalisation strategies should be considered as a means of effectively combating criminal organisations; requests that the EU introduce this issue in both its internal and external policies by involving in the political debate all relevant EU and international agencies and the institutions of all countries involved;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Condemns criminal interests that revolve around gambling, including lawful gambling, and fixing of sports matches; urges the Commission to introduce legislation to combat and prevent thisese phenomenona;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Points out that tax havens are ideal places in which to collect and launder the proceeds of criminal activities, and as such should be abolished; calls in particular for banking secrecy to be abolished;