1. 19-20 March 2018
Eurostat Working Group Meeting - Statistics on Crime and Criminal Justice DG HOME – statistics policy needs
Oskar Whyte, DG Home, Dir D — Security, Unit D.3
European Commission Home Affairs

2. DG HOME – policy needs for crime statistics
Asset freezing and confiscation (New)
Firearms seizures (New)
Regular Data Collection
Cybercrime
Migrant Smuggling (update)
Trafficking in Human Beings (update)
Study on Crime Statistics

3. 1. Asset freezing and confiscation
In 2014, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a Directive (2014/42/EU) on the freezing and confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds of crime in the EU.
The Directive stipulates that the main motive for cross-border organised crime is financial gain and sets minimum rules for national freezing and confiscation regimes concerning so-called Eurocrimes (defined in Article 83 TFEU).
The Directive states that "although existing statistics are limited, the amounts recovered from proceeds of crime in the Union seem insufficient compared to the estimated proceeds."

4. Asset freezing and confiscation (2) Article 11 (1) of Directive 2014/42/EU
Member States (MS) shall regularly collect and maintain comprehensive statistics from the relevant authorities. The statistics collected shall be sent to the Commission each year and shall include:
a) the number of freezing orders executed;
b) the number of confiscation orders executed;
c) the estimated value of property frozen, at least of property frozen with a view to possible subsequent confiscation at the time of freezing;
d) the estimated value of property recovered at the time of confiscation.

5. Asset freezing and confiscation (3) Article 11 (2) of Directive 2014/42/EU
2. Member States shall also send each year the following statistics to the Commission, if they are available at a central level in the Member State concerned:
a) the number of requests for freezing orders to be executed in another Member State;
b) the number of requests for confiscation orders to be executed in another Member State;
c) the value or estimated value of the property recovered following execution in another Member State.
The need to combat criminal finances and money laundering and facilitate asset recovery has also been included as part of the EU Policy Cycle with a view to effectively confiscating the criminal profits of Organised Crime Groups.
Based on the Directive's requirements, and the need to properly assess the impact and effectiveness of freezing and confiscation orders in tackling criminal activity, DG Home wishes to assess the availability and comparability of data on these crime fighting tools.

6. Asset freezing and confiscation (4) Future steps
DG HOME wishes to assess the data availability and move towards more regular collections on asset freezing and confiscation. A data collection from EU MS will soon be launched on the data listed in article 11 of the Directive:
DG Home would coordinate this through contact points in the relevant MS Ministries.
Eurostat cooperation will be sought for the analysis and interpretation of collected data, and consideration of future steps and recommendations.
A Study assessing the compliance of national measures to transpose Directive 2014/42/EU will be launched. A Report on the transposition and implementation of the Directive will be issued in October 2019, it will assess:
the impact of existing national law on confiscation and asset recovery,
any need to revise the list of offences in Article 5(2).

7. 2. Firearms seizures (1) EU Actions
To respond to the various threats it faces, the EU has adopted a series of legislative and operational measures on firearms, including:
the adoption of the Regulation on the import and export of firearms (2012),
the ratification of Firearms Protocol (2014),
the revision of the Firearms Directive (2008 and 2017).
EU Policy Cycle and EMPACT Priority on Firearms
The 2015 European Agenda on Security contains the 'Action plan on illicit trafficking in and use of firearms and explosives' which advocates for the setup of a coherent and harmonized EU system of data collection as a priority within the framework of crime statistics.

8. Firearms seizures (2) Data needs
Currently no permanent system of data collection on firearms seizures at EU level, so there is a need for data to identify:
weapons trafficking routes,
the means of transport used,
the type of weapons concerned.
Although some data and statistics are available at national level - the consistency and comparability of data on firearms trafficking must be improved to:
better inform risk assessments
improve policymakers' ability to assess firearms trafficking flows.
The information gaps on firearms trafficking hamper information exchange and cooperation among MS, and are an obstacle for the fight against this crime.

9. Firearms seizures (3) Objectives
Future collected data on firearms would serve towards analysing trends and building a better intelligence picture on routes, transport and types of weapon.
Not enough is known about the dimension, routes and patterns of firearms trafficking and data would allow an approximation of the scale of trafficking and identify those areas most affected.
Within MS there are different collection and data registration methods, and such differences also exist between MS, so there is a wish to progress towards clear and standardised national level collections.

10. Firearms seizures (4) UNODC Study
The EC has provided €1.5m over two years from the EU's ISF to the UNODC to implement a project to regularly map global firearms trafficking routes to the EU.
The UNODC is preparing a questionnaire looking at the availability of data on seizures of firearms, and guidelines to support more detailed, permanent and consistent recording of such data.
A first pilot collection will take place in 2019 on the basis of the UNODC questionnaire, with Eurostat expected to take over in 2020.
If the pilot data collection is considered feasible by the Eurostat WG it could consider the possibility of including this as a more regular data collection.

11. Firearms seizures (5) Future steps
Eurostat representatives attended a January 2018 meeting of DG HOME's working group on firearms where EU MS agreed :
to establish procedures to standardise and ensure a systematic registration of firearms seizures by law enforcement officers.
to work with the UNODC to establish a set of data, that is both practical (no undue administrative burden) and useful (sufficiently precise to identify trafficking routes, means of transport, type of weapon concerned).
In future DG HOME would need support from Eurostat in requesting information from MS on whether and how the data is collected at the national level.

12. 3. Regular Data Collection
The Commission is very grateful to MS for contributions, and wishes to build on the annual collection of official statistics on crime and justice to enable it to continue serving strategic policy needs.
In this regard DG Home wishes to continue developing the annual data collection at the national level:
the number of offences included in the collection to include a more detailed range of relevant offences,
further disaggregation of data on the criminal justice process by crime types
Later this year DG Home hopes to launch a call to MS for data to update the previous collection on treatment of corruption cases by the criminal justice system:
Offences (years 2014, 2015 and 2016).
Coordinated through the National Contact Points on Corruption and EG on Policy Needs for Data on Crime (to be renewed)

13. 4. Cybercrime - Attacks Against Information Systems (Directive 2013/40/EU)
The 'AAIS Directive' aims to tackle large scale cyber-attacks by requiring MS to strengthen national crime laws and introduce tougher criminal sanctions.
DG Home wishes to investigate the possibility of making regular statistics collections about cyberattack offences as defined in Directive 2013/40/EU.
Articles in the Directive define the criminal offences that MS have been obliged to transpose into national law by 5 September 2015:
Article 3 - Illegal access to information systems
Article 4 - Illegal system interference
Article 5 - Illegal data interference
Article 6 - Illegal interception
Article 7 - Tools used for committing offences

14. 4. Cybercrime (2) Article 14 – Monitoring and Statistics
Article 14 (1) of the AAIS Directive obliges the Member States to collect statistical data on cybercrimes as defined in the articles of the Directive:
Member States shall ensure that a system is in place for the recording, production and provision of statistical data on the offences referred to in Articles 3 to 7.
Article 14 (2) sets the minimum of data that has to be collected:
the number of offences registered by the Member States and
the number of persons prosecuted for these offences, and
the number of persons convicted of the offences referred to in the Directive.
Article 14 (3) the EC shall provide of a review of the statistical reports and distribute it to the competent specialized Union agencies and bodies (Europol and Eurojust) - crucial as the relevant statistical data will show the respective needs of law enforcement, and justify the granting or refusal of specific funding.

15. 4. Cybercrime (3) Data collection
Since the Directive was to be transposed by September was the first full year for the data collection – as of yet there has been no specific action regarding data collection or review.
In December 2017, the EC held a workshop with MS experts who pointed out:
They would strongly prefer to deliver the required data through the channels already in use for the collection of other statistical data on EU level
some of the required data was already collected by ESTAT for related purposes (number of criminal offences, prosecutions, convictions – without differentiation between cyber and other crimes)
DG HOME would recommend considering the possibility of regular future data collection by ESTAT experts

16. 5. Migrant Smuggling – update on collection
Member States have contributed to the pilot data collection exercises on the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and residence of third country nationals.
A preliminary assessment of results of the data collection on migrant smuggling according to the EU definition points to an improvement in the quality of data sent back to Eurostat (more complete and accurate).
Encouraging - as the aim of the two pilot data collection exercises (reference year 2015 and 2016) is to improve the quality of the statistics to launch such a collection as part of the regular Eurostat annual data collection:
This is a clear political priority for the EU and it was specifically presented as a need in the EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling.
If the data quality is deemed sufficient this could already start from the next data collection (reference year 2017).

17. 6. Trafficking in Human Beings – update on collection
Since last year's Working Group meeting there have been number of developments related to statistics on trafficking in human beings:
The Communication on EU priorities and actions on trafficking in human beings was adopted on 4 December 2017, including relevant deliverables on statistics on trafficking in human beings.
The THB data availability survey, which was discussed last year in this working group, was conducted by Eurostat. We are grateful for the support of the statistical authorities with this exercise.
The Commission services have launched a request for statistics to the National rapporteurs and Equivalent mechanisms for the next Commission progress report, which is to be adopted in This data collection also relied on the support of the national statistical authorities.
My colleague, Eva Dimovne Keresztes (from the Office of the EU Anti-trafficking Coordinator/ DG HOME) will soon explain more details on the Communication

18. Study on the availability of crime data in different stages of the EU judicial process in EU MS
The Study targets crimes not already covered by the annual data collection or by other exploratory data collections, with a particular focus on serious and organised crime.
Objective 1: Overview of the Availability of Administrative Statistical Data on Recorded Crime and on the Stages of the Criminal Justice Process in the EU
Objective 2: Overview of the Comparability and Consistency of Administrative Statistical Data on Recorded Crime and Criminal Justice
Launched in December 2017, conducted by GOPA Luxembourg.
Data collected will be for years 2013, 2014 and 2015 – with a disaggregation of phases of criminal justice by offences
Cover all EU MS with key deliverables ready in November 2019
presentation of the Interim Report at Eurostat Crime Stats WG in 2019.

19. Expert Group on Policy Needs for Crime Data
The expert group on Policy Needs for Data on Crime was established by Commission Decision of 14 February 2012 to respond to the need for reliable and comparable data. The Group's mandate expired in 2017 – it was required to close in accordance with the rules on the creation and operation of expert groups. A request for the establishment of a new expert group has been launched and the group should be operational soon – allowing it to continue previous work and commence work on current priorities. The group will assist the Commission in identifying and prioritising policy needs for crime data and meeting future policy objectives. The Group's new mandate will allow it to continue functioning in parallel and complement the work of the Eurostat Working Group on Crime Statistics.