European Organised Crime Threat Assessment
The EU Organised Crime Threat Assessment is the product of systematic analysis of law enforcement information on criminal activities and groups affecting the EU, and is designed to assist strategic decision makers in the prioritisation of organised crime threats. It has been produced by strategic analysts in Europol’s Analysis and Knowledge Unit (O2), drawing on extensive contributions from the organisation’s analysis work files (AWFs), SCAN Team and external partners to produce an assessment of trends and potential future developments in organised crime. Europol would like to express its gratitude to Member States, third countries and Eurojust for their hard work and for the particularly high quality of submissions this year.
The 2011 Organised Crime Threat Assessment (OCTA) is one of Europol’s flagship products and an important report in helping the law enforcement community to understand the evolving threat of organised crime to the EU.
This report’s key finding is that organised crime is changing, having become more diverse in its activities and impact on society over the last two years. Notable features of this development include greater levels of collaboration between criminal groups, greater mobility in and around the EU, a diversification of illicit activity, and a growing dependence on a dynamic infrastructure, anchored in key locations and facilitated by widespread use of the Internet, in particular.