Eurocommissaris Rehn: Misdaad in de Balkan aanpakken met dialoog en goed bestuur (en)

SPEECH/08/287

Olli Rehn

EU Commissioner for Enlargement

The EU and Western Balkans: Tackling Crime with Better Governance

EPC Conference "Policy Dialogue on Crime and Governance:

Challenges for the Balkans"

Brussels, Thursday 29 May 2008

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

It is a pleasure to be here today to discuss crime and governance in the Western Balkans. These are among the toughest challenges facing the region today.

The UNODC report on "Crime and Its Impact on the Balkans," which is before us today, contains some positive conclusions.

More precisely, the report suggests that the overall crime situation in the Western Balkans is improving, as measured by the regional murder count which has nearly halved between 1998 and 2006; and by the trends in fire-arms and human trafficking, which are declining too. Although under-reporting is a fact in this field, the UNODC and others assess that these trends are real; they are just hard to quantify.

The reasons for the improvements include the end of the post-war and post-socialist "dual transitions" that the region went through in the past 15 years. The grey economy is shrinking and institutions to fight crime and corruption have become stronger. A return to normalcy in cross-border cooperation after the Yugoslav wars has also helped, along with closer links to Interpol, Europol and FRONTEX.

In organised crime, there is one single and borderless market. No question about it. The police and the judiciary in South East Europe have a lot of catching up to do.

This is the negative message of the UNODC report before us: organised crime and corruption remain formidable problems, and too little is being done to address them in a comprehensive manner. This needs to change if the region is to keep moving forward towards the EU.

It is true that the Western Balkan region is "unlucky" geographically. It sits on a major trafficking route into the European Union. It is also true that – even if we adjust for under-reporting – and surprising though it may sound – South East Europe appears to have less conventional crime than Western Europe.

The UNODC report cites an average of 402 burglaries per 100,000 persons in South East Europe, versus 1009 in Western Europe. The equivalent numbers for assaults are 32 per 100,000 persons in South East Europe, versus 142 in the West.

But this should not give ground for complacency. Organised crime is a problem in the Western Balkans, and its side-effects of corruption and crime threaten both the formal economy and public security.

Balkan organised crime groups are a hazard in Western Europe as well. Tons of heroin and cocaine continue to transit the region of South East Europe every year. In 2006, Europol declared the Balkans the "epicentre" of human trafficking; and illicit arms trade remains a lucrative business, even if its scale has been reduced in recent years.

Organised crime is also the single greatest obstacle to visa-free travel for the people of the Western Balkans to the EU. Ministries of Interior in EU Member States have profound concerns about organised crime with Balkan roots, or carried out by Balkan groups.

Arguably, increased tourism and easier legal travel from the Western Balkans will pose no problem in this regard. Organised crime groups travel anyway, with or without visas; they work outside the law. But the fact is that EU Member States and public opinion are worried about Western Balkan crime. And they will need to be convinced that effective measures are being taken to combat it.

Mark Twain made famous the original line of Disraeli: "there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." Even the best of statistics can be twisted to bolster inaccurate arguments.

But in tackling crime and corruption, covering up the facts is a dangerous tactic. It all too often blocks or delays corrective action. It also undermines trust in government among citizens.

Ordinary people will not be persuaded by politicians that corruption isn't a problem if they pay bribes for health care, access to public sector jobs, permits, and other aspects of daily life. The only statistics that matter to them are those that they can relate to: how things are today versus how they used to be, not how they may be in some other, far-away country.

And here both UNODC and Transparency International tell a sobering story. Crime levels may be lower in South East Europe than they are in West Europe, but people in South East Europe report far greater fear of walking alone after dark; they confess in greater numbers that "only kin can be trusted;" and bribery is part of everyday life.

In 2006, Transparency International concluded that the South-East European average of annual bribe paying rate was 4.5 times higher than that of Western Europe. In other words, 4.5 times as many people, on average, reported paying bribes in South-East Europe.

This – and the Western Balkan peoples' wish for visa-free travel – make decisive action urgent.

There is no greater prize, short of full EU membership, for the people of the Western Balkans than visa-free travel to the EU. We know this. That is why the EU had launched a dialogue on visa-free travel with each of the Western Balkan countries, stressing the need for improved border controls, safety of travel document, and a reinforced fight against illegal immigration, trans-border organised crime, and corruption.

The difficulty of these reforms should not be underestimated. But their link to visa liberalisation will add a sense of urgency, and a popular incentive that governments can use to build political consensus and ensure effective implementation. The introduction of biometric passports, for example, is now proceeding at accelerated pace in all the Western Balkans, in part because of its necessity for visa-free travel.

Ladies and gentlemen,

To conclude, the Western Balkans countries have made important progress in recent years in strengthening the rule of law and fighting crime and corruption. I am glad to note that the UNODC concludes that the EU's policies and assistance have contributed to the positive trends.

But much remains to be done.

Let me be clear: organised crime and corruption can only be fought with local knowledge. Local knowledge of networks, systems, money flows – along with an understanding of local business ways and practices.

The EU, the UN, and other international partners will do all we can to help. But the governments in the region will have to take the lead.

Activities aimed at strengthening transparency and democracy, as well as professionalism in public office and the independence of the judiciary, will help. The development and the engagement of the civil society can create another constituency for reform. But they can be no substitute for political will at the top.

The Western Balkan countries have come closer to the EU in recent years, both politically and economically. I am convinced that each of them can accelerate its integration with the EU. There is every reason to believe that the positive trend we are witnessing can be maintained – and even reinforced – with the right mix of political will and reform.

Thank you for your attention.