Round tables
London, September 27th 2013
Money Laundering and Tax Heavens in Europe: The needo for a respons by civil society
Venue: Toynbee Hall, Address: 28 Commercial St, London E1 6LS, United Kingdom
Public conference: 18.30 – 20.30 (research workshop at closed doors: 13.30 – 18.00)
Mafias are often perceived as an Italian problem, or a Russian issue or something “imported”, rather than a deep-rooted issue to be dealt with in each corner of Europe. Particularly at a time of economic and welfare crisis, billions could be saved and reinvested through a more coordinated and efficient fight against organised crime.
For this to happen, citizens need to make their voices heard and pressure national and international institutions to fight organised crime in its multiple forms. European Alternatives, LIBERA and partner organisations are organising this event to involve more and more citizens, and young people in particular, in the bottom-up struggle to raise awareness about these issues and to help towards tackling the illegal economy of Europe.
Following a research part of the event taking place at the sameday with key experts from throughout Europe, the second part at 18.30 will demonstrate how organized crime poses a threat on the EU economy and how much could be invested in welfare, education, healthcare, etc. if it was better tackled. What particularly will be showcased and debated is national and transnational approaches to organised crime, in particular when it comes to financial crimes.
Consult the report of the conference: [1]
Berlin, February 6th and 7th 2014
Conference: “Legal Instruments and Technical Tools against Organized Crime – Confiscation Today and Tomorrow”
In the framework pf the project TIE – Tackling Illegal Economy, funded by the European Union and coordinated by Libera, the German association Mafia? Nein Danke! hosted in Germany’s capital city, Berlin, on February 6th and 7th, a conference “Legal Instruments and Technical Tools against Organised Crime- Confiscation Today and Tomorrow”.
The conference was inaugurated with greetings by Sandro Mattioli, the president of the association Mafia? Nein Danke! and by the Italian Vice-ambassador in Germany, Giovanni Pugliese. The pivotal topics of the event were the seizing and the confiscation of criminal assets, as crucial instruments in the fight against organised crime. Seminars followed one another in a crescendo of interesting debates that gathered the opinions of international experts from all over Europe in a single round table.
See the report of the conference here [1] [2] [3][4]
Stara Zagora, June 4th and 5th 2014
“Origin, state of the art and strategies for combating organized crime and illegal structures in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe over the last twenty years”
In the framework of Action 2 of the project, a 2-day round table was held in Stara Zagora on June 4th and 5th 2014, organized by BIBO – Bulgarian-Italian Business Organization, one of the partners of the project. The title of the conference: “Origin, state of the art and strategies for combating organized crime and illegal structures in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe over the last twenty years”. A specific attention was dedicated to the analysis of specific cases involving different types of organised crime, developed and based in particular in the Balkan area, but significantly transnational in their extension and affairs, together with an analysis of norms and methods used to contrast them in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe.
See the report of the conference here
Paris, July 9th and 10th 2014
Tax evasion and financial criminality in Europe: New Forms of Fraud, New Social Struggles
Tax evasion is estimated to cost at least between 30 and 50 billion euros to France each year (Senate report 2014). While Mr. Juncker, former Prime Minister of a prosperous tax haven, Luxembourg, has started the race for presidency of the European Commission, the European Union has been rather absent on the issues of the struggle against tax evasion and more generally on the struggle against financial crime. Yet the answers can only be transnational to be actually efficient. On July 9th and 10th, experts from all over Europe, academics, practitioners and activists, have met in Paris to discuss tax evasion and financial crime in Europe, but also ways forward that should be explored and set up to better oppose it. This event is part of the project ‘Tackling Illegal Economy (TIE)’ which is aimed at promoting confiscation and recovery of the proceeds of crime, as one of the most important transnational tools for the fight against financial and economic crime. Therefore, it brings together partner civil society organisations to jointly identify, promote and disseminate best practices on the re-use of illicit assets.
See the report of the conference here [1]
Brussels, October 8th and 9th 2014
Seminar on Money laundering and tax heavens in Europe
ALDA organised the seminar on “Tackling money laundering and tax heavens in Europe” at the European Parliament, in Brussels, on 9 October.
The seminar has been held within the framework of the project Tackling Illegal Economies – TIE, funded by the EU Prevention of and Fight against Organised Crime Programme (ISEC).
The project is implemented in strong cooperation with the associations LIBERA, European Alternatives and other nine organisations and university institutions coming from six EU countries. The aim of the project is to create grounds for cooperation between the judiciary, media, civil society and academia in Europe in identifying and promoting ways to undermine the profitability of crime by means of the aggression to criminal assets.The event in Brussels has been the occasion to present and discuss the outcomes of the first year activity and hand to European institutions a set of proposals to contribute to effectively tackle organised crime across Europe. It has brought together representatives of the European institutions, national, regional and local authorities, academics and journalists with expertise in financial crimes as well as representatives of civil society associations.