The EU Strategy in Tackling Organized Crime in the Framework of Multilateralism

Transnational organized crime (TOC) is dramatically increasing its ability to perform at a global level. There is not yet, however, a common definition of organized crime, nor a common strategy to fight it. Even though it is currently included in the political agenda on a global level and often associated with transnational terrorism and security issues, organized crime is not an exclusive policy priority. The differences in position among the most important political actors – the US, the EU, the EU member states and the UN – are significant and confused. The EU, in particular, has developed an advanced strategy based either on single member states’ experience or on shared principles and perceptions. The main assumption here is that in the broader context of multilateralism and by respecting the leading global actors’ view (that of the UN and the US), the EU has built its own strategy, which constitutes an added value to the global struggle against TOC. In the first part of this article, TOC will be analysed as a global threat and towards other challenges as global terrorism, ethnic wars and failed states. In the second part, the EU strategy will be analysed and compared to the most important positions and strategies developed by the leading political actors. The most important changes introduced through the Lisbon Treaty will be stressed as well. The last part of the article presents some conclusions on the perceptions of organized crime within political agendas at the global level