Page contents Page contents According to Europol's 2025 Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment, organised crime is proliferating in Europe, infiltrating and destabilising societies, and fuelled by geopolitical and technological developments.Organised crime generates profits of an estimated EUR 139 billion every year. These profits fund further criminal activities and infiltrate the legal economy and public institutions. The most effective way to fight organised crime is going after criminals’ money, notably with asset recovery measures, which allow law enforcement authorities to discover and dismantle the broad networks of criminal organisations operating within and beyond the European Union. However, the low rate of asset recovery in the European Union remains a significant challenge in combatting organised and financial crime. According to Europol, despite substantial investments in resources and legislation, the confiscation of criminal proceeds remains at a low level of approximately 2%. The asset recovery process includes several phases: tracing and identification of the illegally acquired assets;freezing of the assets with a view to their possible subsequent confiscation;management of frozen assets to preserve their value;confiscation of the illegally acquired assets;disposal of the confiscated assets, which could include their reuse for public or social purposes. Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation Confiscation is a strategic priority in the EU's fight against organised crime as highlighted in the ProtectEU Strategy. In 2024, Directive 2024/1260 on asset recovery and confiscation entered into force, building upon and complementing previous legislation and Framework Decision on Confiscation of Crime-Related Proceeds.The Directive contains a set of rules that addresses asset recovery from tracing and identification, through freezing and management, to confiscation and final disposal of assets. It includes: Clear rules on asset tracing and identification to boost cross-border cooperation.The Directive allows Asset Recovery Offices and competent national authorities to trace and identify assets in criminal investigations on the most serious crimes in Europe. New rules provide the Asset Recovery Offices with the powers and information needed to trace and identify assets, and facilitate cross-border cooperation. The new rules also ensure that investigations to trace and identify assets become an automatic reflex in all organised crime investigations. New powers to freeze assets and make sure that they do not disappear before the criminal proceeding is finalised. The new urgent freezing powers for Asset Recovery Offices will ensure that illicit assets do not disappear before a freezing order is issued. New confiscation tools to ensure criminals are deprived of their illegal assets.To strengthen confiscation measures in EU countries, the proposal reinforces the situations where assets can be confiscated without a conviction, such as in cases of death of the accused or where time limitations for prosecuting the offence expired. Moreover, the proposal enables the confiscation of unexplained wealth linked to criminal activities to make sure that no illegal assets remain in the hands of criminals when they have been able to cover their tracks and hide the illegal origin of their properties. Moreover, safeguards have been reinforced to ensure that those affected by the measures have effective remedies. An effective management of assets to ensure that property does not lose value.The management of frozen assets is a challenge, as they may start losing value from the moment, they are frozen until the final confiscation decision. New rules will minimise costs and maximise the value of assets. This will be beneficial for national country budgets, victim compensation, and for reusing those assets for social purposes. The Directive requires EU countries to designate at least one Asset Management Office, which will make sure assets are well managed. It also regulates the possibility to sell a frozen asset before it is confiscated. All these novelties are important for maintaining their value throughout criminal proceedings. Procedural safeguards for the owners are ensured by providing them the right to be heard. Strengthening cooperation among different actors.Many authorities are involved in asset recovery, and it is important that they work together towards common goals. In order to achieve an efficient asset recovery system, the Directive requires EU countries to develop national strategies on asset recovery, including actions to ensure that all actors cooperate and have adequate resources and specialised training. The new rules also underline the importance of cooperation with the European Public Prosecutor (EPPO), Europol, Eurojust and third partners. Moreover, EU countries will have to collect statistics to measure progress made in tackling criminal finances. Directive 2024/1260 on asset recovery and confiscation builds upon and replaces three legislative instruments: The 2007 Asset Recovery Offices Council Decision, which facilitates information exchange and cooperation in tracing criminal property among asset recovery offices;The 2014 Confiscation Directive 2014/42/EU, which establishes minimum rules on freezing, confiscation and management of criminal property;The 2005 Framework decision on confiscation 2005/212/JHA, which has been for the most part replaced by the Confiscation but remains in place for so called standard confiscation measures. Implementing EU sanctions EU sanctions are only as effective as their enforcement. The new rules on asset recovery and confiscation contribute to effective implementation of sanctions though boosting the capacity of EU countries to trace and identify assets in implementing EU sanctions, such as the ones set out against Russia and Belarus’ individuals. The proposal empowers Asset Recovery Offices to trace and identify assets of sanctioned individuals, where there is a suspicion of the violation of restrictive measures and to cooperate with EU agencies and non-EU countries in this respect. This ensures that the assets of sanctioned individuals that evade restrictive measures are frozen before they disappear or change ownership. On 19 May 2024, new rules to harmonise criminal offences and penalties for the violation of EU restrictive measures entered into force. The new rules will ensure that such violations can be criminally investigated and prosecuted in all Member States. Other policies Organised crime groups are quick to adapt modern technology to their operations on an international scale, usually in more than one EU country. In order to combat organised crime more effectively, investigators should be able to follow, freeze and confiscate money transferred to bank accounts in different countries. The Directive on the use of financial and other information to combat serious crimes grants law enforcement authorities and Asset Recovery Offices with direct access to bank account information for the purposes of fighting serious crime. It aims to improve cooperation between law enforcement authorities and Financial Intelligence Units, and facilitate the exchange of information between Financial Intelligence Units. This Directive was amended in 2024 to give law enforcement access to bank account information across borders. In addition, Regulation on the mutual recognition of freezing and confiscation orders was adopted. The Regulation aims to facilitate cross-border asset recovery and make the freezing and confiscation of criminal assets across the EU quicker and simpler. It applies to all freezing and confiscation orders issued within the framework of proceedings in criminal matters, including conviction and non-conviction-based confiscation. Crime prevention Crime prevention includes all activities that contribute to halting or reducing crime. Stakeholders that play a preventive role include: local politicians; law enforcement agencies and the judicial system; social services; the education system; civil society organisations; industry; banks; the private sector; academics and scientists and the general public, supported by the media. Crime prevention requires a multi-disciplinary approach. National policies that contribute to crime prevention include: criminal law; social policy; education; town planning; and taxation; and local administration. Most effective preventive action should take place as close as possible to the grassroots level. This is reflected by the emergence of multiple local initiatives involving police forces, local authorities, businesses, associations and citizens. Supporting measures The EU focuses on exchanging experience and best practices to mitigate factors which encourage crime and recidivism or which put a person in a vulnerable situation. The EU aims and to prevent corruption as well as criminal infiltration of the economy and society. In addition, the EU has started to introduce solid preventive provisions in its flagship initiatives, ranging from anti-drugs policy to cybercrime, trafficking in human beings and child pornography. European Networks Since 2001, the European Crime Prevention Network has offered an EU-wide platform for exchanging best practices, research and information on different aspects of local crime prevention. Although covering all types of criminality, the Network pays particular attention to the fields of juvenile, urban and drug-related crimes. The Network's website contains a rich database on national strategic orientations and projects in different areas of crime such as burglary, business crime, neighbourhood policing, school violence and different categories of organised crime.
