Brussels, 19 February 2024
It’s great to meet in this inspiring location, at this important moment in time. A time when the threat posed by organised crime, drugs crime is bigger than ever.
Last year: more than 600 explosions in the Netherlands. In Sweden, 350 shootings, killing 53 people. And more than 300 children aged 15 to 17 charged with murder or attempted murder in Sweden alone. Children killing children.
50% of murders in the European Union are linked to drugs and drugs trafficking. Drug traffickers killed a journalist, a lawyer in the Netherlands and are threatening politicians in several Member States. These are direct attacks on our democracies.
It’s time to realise: Organised crime is as big a threat to society, as terrorism. And we have to counter this threat with the same determination. And so it’s good that the last four years the EU has made big steps forward on security. Much bigger steps than anyone expected four years ago when we started this mandate. And to a very large part, that’s thanks to Europol.
One recent big step forward is the European Ports Alliance. A public private partnership in the fight against organised crime and drug trafficking. Because it takes a network to fight a network.
Minister Verlinden was there at the launch. Annelies, we have already built up an excellent cooperation in the fight against drugs crime. We travelled to South America together. And I look forward to continuing our work under your Presidency.
And Catherine De Bolle was there. Catherine, one of the great honours of my mandate so far was to work with you as Executive Director of Europol on our shared mission to keep Europe safe.
Europol is key to the Ports Alliance. And we’re building a network also across the Atlantic, from where the drugs depart for Europe. I’ve visited Colombia and Ecuador. And 14 Latin American interior ministers came to Brussels last September. Ecuador started a working arrangement with Europol last October.
Resulting last week in a first joint operational success against a cocaine trafficking network. 31 arrests in Spain and Ecuador. Two criminal bosses arrested – high value targets. Nearly 50 million euro in property frozen. And agreements to exchange personal data with Europol are now being negotiated with Ecuador, with Bolivia, with Brazil, with Mexico and with Peru.
To take the cooperation to the next level. And progress in these negotiations is good. In the last four years we had to deal with unexpected threats. Covid of course.
And war. War is a catastrophe for people but an opportunity for criminals. We were faced with the unexpected security risks caused by Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. Risks that are on your agenda today.
Trafficking in human beings. Criminals targeting vulnerable women and children for sexual exploitation. We are countering this threat. Working with Member States, Ukraine, the EU anti trafficking coordinator, Diane Schmitt here with us today. And Europol of course.
Europol is vital in the fight against trafficking of human beings. Offering analysis, financial crime investigation and linking up national expertise and investigations.
So far there are relatively few victims of trafficking among refugees from Ukraine. But we have to stay vigilant.
And a potential threat resulting from Putin’s war: the trafficking of firearms. We just heard the question here on that topic. Criminals hoping to smuggle weapons from the battlefield – as happened after the war in the Balkans.
Europol has an excellent operational cooperation with Ukraine and the Ukrainian police. They are a key partner for the Commission in working with Ukraine to counter the spread of firearms.
nd so far, we don’t see many firearms entering the EU –our cooperation with the Ukrainians is excellent.
But of course this could change, especially when the war one day is over. So this is why we have to continue to build a very striong cooperation in this topic,
Europol is the beating heart of police cooperation and information exchange in Europe. And in the last four years I made sure to stress this role in all the legislation and initiatives I put forward. For example: plugging Europol into the Prüm network for police information exchange – which was voted into law just two weeks ago by the European Parliament.
And that will allow for faster, more efficient and more kinds of police data checks. But our biggest step forward for Europol is the adoption of the new mandate that I proposed. Allowing Europol to meet the new challenges of our time. And better support Member States’ police. Confirming Europol is allowed to process big data. With a reinforced data protection framework as well as stronger oversight.
Crucial for today’s criminal investigations. Like the arrest of a Croatian narco boss last October in Istanbul. The arrest of this high value target followed an investigation into large scale cocaine trafficking, an investigation supported by Europol with information exchange, analytical support and operational support.
Or the arrest of five suspected far right terrorists after an international operation supported by Europol. The suspects were accused of sharing extremist propaganda and manuals for printing 3D weapons. Or an anti-corruption investigation resulting in the freezing of more than 5 million euro in assets.
In all of these of operations the analysis of big data was key to success. This is not the last of the changes to the mandate. Crime never stops. Law enforcement must stay ahead. A few months ago I launched a global coalition against migrant smuggling. And I also proposed targeted amendments to the Europol Regulation. So Europol can fully support the global fight.
With:
- 50 million extra in budget and fifty new posts for Europol.
- With Eurojust and Frontex liaison officers at the European Centre Against Migrant Smuggling
- And better support through operational taskforces and deployment on the ground.
Necessary changes that I am sure will bring big results in the fight against migrant smugglers.
And I count on your support to make it happen. Last year, more than 3000 people lost their lives in the Mediterranean. The smugglers don’t care at all about the migrants’ lives. We need to fight the smugglers. We need to turn the political commitment to counter smugglers into operational results on the ground. And that’s why we also need this targeted amendment of the regulation.
We will also need Europol to face new challenges, future challenges. The malicious use of artificial intelligence. It’s clear generative AI can do amazing things. Write convincing texts in seconds. Create realistic photos in an instant – and now even video. Last week we saw the launch of Sora – a text to video AI model. All you need to do is write a few sentences, and out comes a video:
- People on a market in Lagos, Nigeria.
- Waves breaking on the cliffs in the golden light of the setting sun.
- There is nothing to suggest it’s not real.
AI can be a real benefit to humanity. Can bring great progress in medicine and science. We’re really only at the beginning of this revolution. But unfortunately right from the start people are also looking for opportunities to corrupt AI, to abuse it for malicious and criminal purposes.
Last December Germany uncovered a Russian disinformation campaign. 50,000 fake accounts spewing out one million messages against the government. That will be so much easier, with AI. And we already see AI being used to commit fraud and even to create child sexual abuse material.
Last year the Internet Watch Foundation found 3000 images of child sexual abuse created by AI. In one month alone. Of these more than 500 were the worst kind: rapes and torture of small children. “Deepfake” is not the right word. Because the rapes are real.
The AI is trained on existing pictures and videos of real rapes of real small children – to create new pictures and new videos of rapes. It is not chat GPT – this is rape GPT. There’s a danger police will be flooded with pictures of fake children – and unable to rescue real children. Because the pictures are already so real. This is only the beginning.
We need to stop the criminal use of AI from spiralling out of control. Europol’s innovation lab organised workshops last years to explore criminal use of AI – and how AI can benefit law enforcement. The new AI Act makes it possible for law enforcement to develop AI to counter terrorism and organised crime and identify victims. We will need AI to fight AI.
And its new mandate allows Europol to develop and test Artificial Intelligence for law enforcement. New horizons for law enforcement, also mean new horizons for you. As elected politicians, you will also be confronted with the impact of disinformation by AI. It is only a matter of time. And as members of this group, you will be part of the debate on how to counter criminal AI. A debate that is only just beginning. I wish you all the best in helping to shape this debate. A debate that will be extremely important for the safety of our citizens.
Source – EU Commission