EU versus Crime conference reflected on achievements and challenges in the security field

On 28 May, the “EU versus Crime” conference, organised by the European Commission and Europol, took place in Brussels. The conference presented the internal security achievements of the current Commission, addressed future challenges and celebrated Europol’s 25^thanniversary. 

Commissioner YlvaJohansson, together with Executive Director of Europol Catherine De Bolle, opened the conference with keynote speeches on fighting crime and terrorism in the EU, and welcomed more than 150 participants from EU Member States, partner countries, EU institutions and agencies, civil society and academia.

The conference focused on three major internal security challenges: disrupting global criminal networks; combating terrorism and radicalisation in the digital age; and access to criminal data with Europol serving as a central hub against crime.

During the last 5 years, the EU has delivered on commitments under the Security Union Strategy, the EU Counter Terrorism Agenda, and the EU Strategy to tackle Organised Crime. The Commission presented 36 legislative initiatives under the Security Union Strategy, of which more than half have become law. For instance, to strengthen the fight against terrorism and radicalisation, the Commission has adopted the Regulation to address the dissemination of terrorist content online and the Counter-terrorism strategy.

The Commission also strengthened Europol, to improve its operational capacity to fight the full range of organised crime activities, by revising its respective Regulation and adopting Directives that facilitate cross-border cooperation and exchange.

In 2020, the Commission launched the EU Strategy to Tackle Organised Crime. This Strategy has been operationalised with the EU Roadmap to fight drug trafficking and organised crime and the Private-Public Partnership on the European Ports Alliance that will allow to secure ports from criminal infiltration.

All these efforts have strengthened EU security, enhancing resilience, protecting society, and fostering collaboration across various law enforcement agencies.

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Commissioner Johansson's speech at the EU versus crime conference on security

The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation

Internal security policies