A3-0289/93

Resolution on small-scale crime in urban areas and its links with organized crime

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motions for resolutions tabled by:

(a)Mr De Piccoli on the spread of urban crime and petty crime in the Community Member States (B3-0725/92),

(b)Mrs Domingo Segarra on the spread of violence in the Member States of the Community (B3-0790/93),

(c)Mrs Braun-Moser on a Community-wide Criminal Investigation Bureau and cross-border prosecution of criminal offences (B3-0823/93),

-having regard to the preamble and Articles 8a, 220 and 235 of the EC Treaty,

-having regard to Article B, third indent, Article F(2) and Article K.1 of the Treaty on European Union,

-having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly Articles 3 and 8, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, particularly Articles 7 and 17,

-having regard to the final declarations in the Final Act of the Treaty on European Union, particularly the Declaration on Police Cooperation and the Declaration on Cooperation with Charitable Associations,

-having regard to Council Directive 91/308/EEC of 10 June 1991,

-having regard to the report of its Committee of Inquiry on the spread of organized crime linked to drug trafficking in the European Community (A3-0358/91),

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs (A3-0289/93),

A.aware that small-scale crime is becoming increasingly widespread and serious in the Community's urban areas, and that more and more links are being uncovered between such crime and organized crime; deeply concerned at the rise in the number of crimes committed by children and young people, who, particularly because they are too young to be criminally liable, are used by criminal organizations to carry out menial tasks (smuggling, delivering weapons, drug trafficking, robbery, etc.),

B.whereas increasing numbers of racist crimes are being committed against the elderly, children, women, immigrants, the homeless, homosexuals, blacks and adherents of the Jewish and Islamic faiths, while the security forces are not equipped legally, technically or in terms of staffing to deal with the problem,

C.aware that restoring and safeguarding public and private security is not only the job of the police and judiciary, but also that of welfare workers and neighbourhood groups, and that crime can best be prevented by comprehensive and consistent social, youth and education policies, and the restructuring and revitalization of urban areas by means of renovation and improved urban planning,

D.whereas particular attention should be devoted to prevention projects, in which the parties mentioned above should cooperate actively, inter alia through exchanges of experience in this field at European Community level,

E.whereas the administration of justice in small-scale criminal cases should be brought closer to the people and should be carried out more efficiently, and whereas to this end use should be made of ADR (alternative dispute resolution) and the four Ds (decriminalization, deinstitutionalization, deregulation and decentralization),

F.taking the view that unemployment, the breakdown of social structures, drug abuse, the failure of integration policy and deteriorating services and quality of life in urban areas give rise to feelings of frustration and hopelessness, particularly in economically and socially disadvantaged groups, and create a breeding ground for crime,

G.whereas urban development has often taken no account of the social, economic and cultural needs of the inhabitants and has merely created isolated concrete wastelands and encouraged the formation of ghettoes, thus contributing to increased crime in cities,

H.convinced that crime, particularly organized crime, hampers political, economic and social development, endangers freedom and obstructs or prevents the functioning of democratic institutions,

I.deploring the absence of sufficiently differentiated statistical data on the various forms of crime and the striking lack of scientific research and analysis in this area, at least in some Member States,

J.mindful that freedom of movement and security are rights to which European citizens have an equal claim, and that both must be firmly established in the democratic structure of Europe,

1.Takes the view that crime prevention and the fight against crime must take place mainly at local (especially in cities), regional and national level, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, but that in some areas, particularly that of organized crime, it can be effectively underpinned by cooperation and exchange of experience at European level;

2.Takes the view that an EC crime-prevention policy must be based, inter alia, on:

(a)knowledge of the extent, nature and methods of current crime and how such knowledge is gathered,

(b)information about crime prevention projects and how they are set up and evaluated,

(c)specific training for the police, security and judicial bodies with regard to mutual cooperation and cooperation with other groups and organizations that should be involved,

(d)a thorough analysis of the economic and social background to small-scale crime and the causes of crime,

(e)comprehensive, ongoing efforts to inform and educate the general public, with a view to ensuring that they are in possession of objective facts;

3.Takes the view that the EC should make proposals for bringing the administration of justice in cases of small-scale crime closer to the people;

4.Calls for an appropriately funded support programme for local crime-fighting strategies to be set up at Community level, aimed at facilitating, alongside municipal policies to combat crime, a policy of social rehabilitation for former criminals, as well as victim support policies, and at promoting the founding and running of a European forum, whose tasks would include the development of basic principles of crime fighting and the permanent monitoring of crime in urban areas;

5.Is convinced that fighting organized crime would help to check the growth of small-scale crime, in view of the links between the two;

6.Reminds the Member States that, particularly since the opening of the Community's internal borders, their differing legal provisions offer criminal organizations a whole range of openings for their activities, that criminals make fraudulent use of the advantages of the single market and that there is a need for the Member States to take steps to eliminate such disparities;

7.Calls on the Commission in this context to draw up a proposal by March 1994 providing for harmonization of the criminal law and law of criminal procedure concerning certain categories of so-called small-scale crime which have close links with organized crime;

8.Calls on the Commission to draw up a report by February 1994 on how cooperation among the Member States at various levels, such as the Schengen Agreement and Europol, deals with organized crime and to investigate to what extent the individual liberties of Community citizens are protected;

9.Calls on the Commission to complement as soon as possible Directive 91/308/EEC on prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering by the introduction of ad hoc measures to prevent the smuggling-in of money obtained by illegal means, and of property law provisions providing for the immediate confiscation of revenue obtained from illegal activities;

10.Instructs its committee responsible to organize as soon as possible ongoing cooperation with the relevant national parliamentary committees, with a view to combating crime, particularly organized crime;

11.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the governments of countries which have applied for accession.