The third EURIEC Discussion Board meeting took place on November 26, 2021. Although the semi-annual meeting was again held online, the attendance was particularly high; 122 representatives from 47 organisations in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands took part to gain more insight into the work of EURIEC. Representatives from several other European countries were also present to learn from EURIEC’s findings.
Following a brief introduction by Mirjam Clermonts-Aretz, Chair of the EURIEC Steering Group Committee, Rob Hutschemaekers, Head of EURIEC, provided an overview of EURIEC’s achievements during the first phase (2019-2021). He also looked ahead to the second phase (2021-2023), in which the focus will be on setting up structural meetings and instigating changes to laws and regulations, in addition to case support and raising awareness.
Three speakers from participating organizations, Annemie De Boye (Coordinator ARIEC (Belgian) Limburg), Marc Röckinghausen (Professor Fachhochschule für Polizei und öffentliche Verwaltung), and Luud Geerlings (Coordinator EURIEC), then elaborated on several cases and phenomena including labor migration, money laundering, and licensing.
All three presentations came to a similar conclusion: an amendment of national legislation is key to achieving an effective international exchange of information and an international administrative approach to organized crime. This conclusion is in line with EURIEC’s findings, as described in its Final report Phase I (2019-2021). This report can be found here on the website. Please note that the report refers to a set of notes, which will be posted on this website in the coming weeks.