In 2006 the European Council adopted the framework directive 2006/783/GAI, to provide a joint jurisdiction on goods confiscated from criminal organisations. Eight years later, 21 countries adhere to the decision but seven still are missing: Italy, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.
Confiscated assets are worth almost 4 billion euros a year in all of Europe. The data currently available Europe-wide, however, do not allow for a complete picture on confiscated goods. Aside from some national information, there is a lack of stats detailing the extent to which member states are able to recover illicit assets and cash. It is hard to estimate the true size of criminal wealth that ends up in the control of the state.
The cross-border data project Confiscated Goods focused on five main European countries, each with its own peculiarities when it comes to confiscation and freezing of assets: Italy, France, Spain, Germany and the UK.
Photos © Arctic Wolves
