31.8.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 251/120

Wednesday 14 March 2012
Mandate of the special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering, its powers, numerical composition and term of office

P7_TA(2012)0078

European Parliament decision of 14 March 2012 on setting up a special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering, its powers, numerical composition and term of office

2013/C 251 E/26

The European Parliament,

—

having regard to the decision of the Conference of Presidents of 16 February 2012 to propose that a special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering be set up and its powers and numerical composition defined,

—

having regard to its resolution of 25 October 2011 on organised crime in the European Union (1), whereby it expressed its intention to set up a special committee,

—

having regard to its resolution of 15 September 2011 on the EU’s efforts to combat corruption (2),

—

having regard to Rule 184 of its Rules of Procedure,

1.

Decides to set up a special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering, with the following remit:

(a)

to analyse and evaluate the extent of organised crime, corruption and money laundering and its impact on the Union and its Member States and to propose appropriate measures to enable the Union to forestall and counter these threats, including at international, European and national level;

(b)

to analyse and evaluate the current implementation of Union legislation on organised crime, corruption and money laundering, and related policies, in order to ensure that Union law and policies are evidence-based and supported by the best available threat assessments, as well as to monitor their compatibility with fundamental rights in accordance with Articles 2 and 6 of the Treaty on European Union, in particular the rights set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and the principles underpinning the Union’s external action, in particular those set out in Article 21 of the Treaty;

(c)

to examine and scrutinise the implementation of the role and activities of the Union home affairs agencies (such as Europol, the COSI and Eurojust) working on matters relating to organised crime, corruption and money laundering, and related security policies;

(d)

to address the issues referred to in its resolution of 25 October 2011 on organised crime in the European Union, and notably paragraph 15 thereof (3), as well as in its resolution of 15 September 2011 on the EU’s efforts to combat corruption,

(e)

to these ends, to establish the necessary contacts, make visits and hold hearings with the European Union institutions and with the international, European and national institutions, the national parliaments and governments of the Member States and of third countries, and representatives of the scientific community, business and civil society, as well as grassroots actors, victims’ organisations, the officials involved in the daily fight against organised crime, corruption and money laundering, such as law enforcement agencies, judges and magistrates, and civil society actors who promote a culture of legality in difficult areas;

2.

Decides, given that the powers of Parliament’s standing committees with responsibility for matters concerning the adoption, monitoring and implementation of Union legislation relating to this area remain unchanged, that the special committee may make recommendations regarding the measures and initiatives to be taken, in close collaboration with the standing committees;

3.

Decides that the special committee shall have 45 members;

4.

Decides that the term of office of the special committee shall be 12 months, beginning on 1 April 2012, with the possibility of extension; decides that the special committee shall present to Parliament a mid-term report and a final report containing recommendations concerning the measures and initiatives to be taken.

(1)  Texts adopted, P7_TA(2011)0459.

(2)  Texts adopted, P7_TA(2011)0388.

(3)  That paragraph reads as follows: ‘ 15. Intends to set up, within three months of the adoption of this resolution, a special committee on the dissemination of criminal organisations which operate across borders, including mafias, one of whose aims will be to investigate the extent of the phenomenon and the negative social and economic impact it has throughout the EU, including the issue of the misappropriation of public funds by criminal organisations and mafias and their infiltration into the public sector, as well as the contamination of the legal economy and financial system, while another aim will be to identify a range of legislative measures in order to address this tangible and acknowledged threat to the EU and its citizens; calls, therefore, on the Conference of Presidents to put forward a proposal under Rule 184 of the Rules of Procedure’.