Pro-activity, partnership and prevention: the UK contribution to policing organised crime in Europe

Whatever the outcome of political initiatives within the European Union (EU) and other European states regarding closer integration of political and economic institutions, there has long been evident an increasing integration and cooperation amongst the higher echelon of criminals across the continent.1 Whether or not the EU expands its membership, refines its constitution, harmonises the laws of Member States or even disintegrates, law enforcement agencies across Europe will continue to have to deal with the significant threat posed to national and global infrastructures by the free market of organised crime (Fiorentini & Peltzman, 1995; see also Williams, 1998: 265-8). This market will feed off opportunities presented by the EU but will also flourish in the absence of such a supranational entity. This paper considers approaches that are being adopted within the UK to the policing needs of Europe and possible responses to new demands with particular reference to organised crime.