NCJ Number
197559
Date Published
2002
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines how the European nation-states have come to rely increasingly on the European Union to adopt and implement measures designed to counter the transnational organized crime (TOC) that has been on the rise since the end of the Cold War.
Abstract
The European Union has proven to be the only organization with the legitimacy and the range of competencies and resources required to respond to a broadened array of security demands, particularly those occasioned by the threats of TOC. When the European Union's enlargement to encompass post-communist East Europe finally occurs (probably around 2005), the focus of the European Union is sure to be on the states with little chance of, or desire for, entry into the European Union (Albania, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, and Russia). These states are already viewed as among the main sources of European destabilization. A threat mentality is present in the European Union, and the retreat into a "fortress impulse" is a possibility. If this becomes a dominant trend, then the comprehensive model of security offered by the European Union would be compromised. Overall, however, the European Union has been compelled by a twofold concern: first, that the consumption of drugs within European Union states has been increasing; and secondly, that the problem is likely to be exacerbated when new East-Central European countries, with poorly policed borders, are admitted to the European Union. The European Union has pursued a strategy based on 4-year action plans, with a focus on demand and supply reduction, international cooperation, information sharing, and curbs on the sale by member states of the chemical precursors used in the production of illegal drugs. The continuation and broadening of these efforts should prevent the isolation of or criminalization of new member states or non-member European states. 4 notes and 58 references