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Since the London conference on Organized Crime in South Eastern Europe in November 2002, we have made progress in raising the political awareness for combating organized crime in the region.  Looking back and evaluating our achievements on the ground, however, I am convinced that we should move our focus to actual, practical implementation.   

Addressing my partners from South Eastern Europe: Can we really tell the public that more was done than only signing conventions and declarations?  Did the countries start to set up functioning special organized crime-fighting units?  Are prosecutors and judges educated and trained enough to face the challenge?  Were the first major and known organized criminals in the region prosecuted and convicted?  In other words: was there enough political will aiming at result-oriented fight against organized crime?  

Of course, we all know that we talk about a global phenomenon.   However, the countries of South Eastern Europe are increasingly also becoming a major transit region for organized crime between East and West.  At the same time, I very much assume that you are aware of the rising rate of drug addicts, kidnapping victims and huge losses to the national economies in your countries due to organized crime activities and large-scale corruption.  

But I also would like to point out that on the donors' side, we should be aware that the pledges and commitments going to SEE in technical assistance and support to local authorities are but a tiny fraction of the fiscal losses that we in the EU are suffering because of the illegal products coming from the Balkans or being trafficked through that corridor.   The losses and illegal profits of cigarette smuggling or human trafficking for the sex industry amount to billions each year.   For stolen cars, the illegal profits were estimated to have been Euro 5.8 billion in 2002 alone.  Compared to these losses, the support going to the eight countries active in the Stability Pact's organized Crime Fighting Initiative are comparatively modest.  It is not only smart but also more cost-effective to increase the support for combating crime than to cope with its fallout at home.  

In this context, I should like to raise the question that commitments on the human resource side will be crucial for success.  It would be strange if concrete project proposals end with budgetary limits taking into account that our counterparts control entire neighbourhoods of our cities.  Criminal associations do not care about declarations, process, programs or funding lines.  What is needed is more flexibility to react on what happens in reality between Moldova’s border and the Albanian coast.

Ladies and Gentlemen: the Stability Pact did and will support within its capacities the combat against organized crime wherever possible.  This fight will clearly remain a core objective of the Pact in 2004.

Let me briefly touch upon the regional key instruments we are using to address this challenge:

The Pact'sInitiative on Fighting Organized Crime (SPOC) will continue to facilitate dialogue with international and regional representatives of the legal, scientific and law enforcement communities covering anti-organised crime issues.  SPOC is at the centre of our efforts. 

The mission of the Regional Centre for Combating Transborder Crime is to support common trans-border crime fighting efforts of participating countries, focusing on regional cooperation and operations.  I invite you to support the Centre since it also a clear signal of regional ownership.  Here I see a new opportunity to create a broader base, not least within the Union, for improving the Centre's utility for the EU's and the region's interest alike, and in the spirit of a functioning transatlantic partnership. 

The process following the May meeting in Ohrid regarding border management will continue.  I strongly hope that the Western Balkans countries step up their engagement in a reform process to establish open but secure borders.   

The activities of the SP Task Force on Trafficking in Human Beings will take into account the social and economic causes of trafficking in 2004.  As a transnational crime, trafficking in human beings will be tackled through an integrated approach at national, regional and international levels.  

The Belgrade-based South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC) is assisting SEE countries in developing programs for reducing illicit SALW proliferation.    

Key in enhancing regional ownership is SEECP.  Two ministerial-level conferences under BiH chairmanship discussed the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.  Ministers of Justice of the region were brought together by the SEECP for the first time.  

At this point, I would like to make a straightforward suggestion to the representatives of the SEECP today: to strengthen cooperation amongst yourselves by launching a joint SEECP campaign to fight organized crime and corruption.  

What I have in mind is not just a new slogan or another political declaration nor an exercise limited to preparing new legislation.  I am talking about hands-on cooperation to translate the political and legal commitments of the last few years into real action, into a real fight against those trans-national criminal networks and the widespread corruption that are undermining societies and damaging economies.

It is obvious that the fight against these trans-national networks can only be won through practical cooperation between customs and police officers and between prosecutors at a regional scale.   What is needed is reliable data exchange, networks of police and legal authorities, cooperation in criminal investigations and extradition of suspects, to mention a few of the more important elements.  What is needed also is regional cooperation to enhance the effectiveness of existing tools and procedures through training of personnel and capacity building.  If you are serious about this fight, I believe you should give top priority to such common measures.  I would suggest the SEECP ministers here with us today to discuss at their next meeting how to launch such a joint campaign and I would be happy to make specific suggestions in this regard.  

The fight against organized crime and corruption is one of the core objectives for the Stability Pact and I for my part will insist that we should further increase our own efforts.  The effectiveness of the Stability Pact’s own initiatives should be further increased.  I believe we should improve cooperation between the SP Organised Crime Initiative, the SP Anticorruption Initiative, the SP Police Forum Initiative, and the SP Task Force on Trafficking of Human Beings, and also make them work more closely together with the Transborder Crime Fighting Centre and Europol, and with related initiatives in other partner organisations.  I want to strengthen the capacity of these SP Initiatives and will seek more support for them both within SEECP countries and within the donor community.  All of us should support such a joint SEECP campaign to fight organised crime and corruption.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in sum we have made some progress, but not enough.  Let me emphasize that regional cooperation and regional ownership are crucial conditions to achieve our joint objectives, and I would appreciate if this message would form part of the results of our meeting here today.  

I count on you to assist the work of my office in this regard.  I hope that we are again able to report on concrete results when we meet to discuss crime issues in SEE next time.