Examining the links between organised crime and corruption

Book excerpt: Systematically examines, across all 27 EU Member States, how organised crime uses corruption as a tool. The study is based on more than 150 interviews with corruption specialists and more than 120 statistical and survey indicators on corruption and organised crime. The study focuses on how organised and white collar criminals use corruption to target public institutions (politicians, police, judiciary, and customs), as well as how it is used for the operation of key criminal markets (cigarettes, drugs, prostitution, car-theft, and extortion-racketeering). The study also examines how private sector company employees are corrupted by organised criminals. Although the study does not map the specifics of how corruption is used in each EU Member State, six in-depth studies (on Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain) provide a more in-depth look in the situation in these countries.