The EU role in fighting transnational organised crime

Transnational Organised Crime (TOC) has risen up in the international institutions agenda. The international communitys mobilisation against organised crime has led to an impressive elaboration of institutional responses to what has been presented as a global challenge. The EU JHA agenda has not been an exception, while constantly addressing the issue of the fight against TOC as one of its priorities since the middle of the 1990s. In order to understand the current state of the EU strategy against organised crime, this study examines the existing EU legislative framework and the various initiatives taken at the international level against TOC in order to put the EU strategy into a broader perspective. This includes taking a closer look at the European justice and police co-operation mechanisms (specifically the role and mandate of Europol and Eurojust), as well as reviewing the most recent developments in the EU strategy against organised crime.