The joint action plan contains important measures to more systematically combat financial crime, money laundering, drug-related crime and the organised crime structures associated with all these types of crime. As set out in the Federal Government's coalition agreement, the legal foundation necessary to take action against these forms of crime is now being established. The plan also includes measures to boost the technical and staff capacities of the customs authorities and the Federal Criminal Police Office.
Federal Minister of Finance Lars Klingbeil said: “We are stepping up the fight against organised crime. The perpetrators of these crimes defraud the public, endanger people’s lives and cause billions of euros in damage each year. Our action plan sends a clear message: our democracy is ramping up pressure on these criminals. We are making sure that our investigative authorities hit them where they are most vulnerable: their money. In future, we will be able to confiscate assets from dubious sources much faster, from cash to luxury cars to buildings. We are strengthening financial investigations so that we can identify the ringleaders and dismantle criminal networks. To this end, the customs authorities and the Federal Criminal Police Office will have access to each other’s data in future and will be able to deploy artificial intelligence to identify perpetrators and search large volumes of data. We are also establishing joint analysis centres and joint investigative teams so we can fight money laundering and drug-related crime more effectively.”
Federal Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt said: “Organised crime is a ruthless, brutal business model. That is why we want to go after the money – systematically, rigorously, quickly and with full force. When millions of euros suddenly turn up and nobody can explain where the money came from, the government must act. We are looking very closely to identify and monitor illegally earned money, and ultimately to systematically confiscate it. That is why we are bolstering both the staff and the structures of the Federal Criminal Police Office: we are giving them more staff resources, more powers and more enforcement authority.”
Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Stefanie Hubig said: “The fight against organised crime is at the very top of our agenda. Organised crime does not only threaten our safety and security – it also undermines trust in the rule of law. We cannot accept this, and we will not accept it. That is why we in the Federal Government are working together to ensure that police and judicial authorities are equipped for today’s challenges and can work effectively. The action plan that we agreed today sends a clear message: crime must not pay in our country. Perpetrators need to be identified quickly, brought to trial and systematically punished. This is a matter of security and of justice.”
The joint action plan has the following key points:
- Improving information-sharing between federal law enforcement and security agencies and expanding their powers to conduct analyses – for example, for automated data analysis and for online searches using biometric identifiers.
- Conducting targeted financial investigations with a follow-the-money approach and providing new options for identifying and confiscating concealed criminal assets.
- Strengthening investigations into money laundering – for example, by establishing a joint centre combining the expertise of the Federal Criminal Police Office and the customs authorities, as well as a centre for investigations into money laundering which will be based with the customs authorities.
- Taking a comprehensive approach to the fight against international drug-related crime – for example, by establishing a centre for the analysis and assessment of narcotics, run jointly by the Customs Criminological Office and the Federal Criminal Police Office, and, based on the work of this centre, a federal Joint Narcotics Investigation Group.
- Boosting the staff resources of security authorities and the judicial system.
You can find the joint action plan here [pdf, 160KB] .
