Day: June 27, 2022

On 27 June, Europol published this Threat Assessment, saying that crimes against the environment threaten the survival of all living species and have an enormous financial impact, which is set to increase further. Opportunities for high profits, legal discrepancies among countries, low risk of detection and marginal penalties make environmental crime a very attractive business for criminal entrepreneurs.  It goes into depth on the main typologies of environmental crimes investigated in the EU, namely waste and pollution crimes, wildlife trafficking, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, forestry crimes and the illegal pet trade.  A special focus is paid to climate change, which functions as a push and pull factor for organised crime.  The increasing scarcity of natural resources will likely trigger organised crime interests in terms of profit over their future allocation.

https://www.europol.europa.eu/cms/sites/default/files/documents/Environmental_Crime_in_the_Age_of_Climate_Change_threat_assessment_2022.pdf

Any modest contributions for my time and ongoing expenses are welcomed!  I have a page where you can do so, and where one-off contributions start as low as $3, at

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y

NOTE THAT THE ABOVE LINK IS NOW CORRECTED AND WORKS!

On 27 June, the Council of Europe body published the mutual evaluation report on Bulgaria following the onsite visit in September.  The report highlights various shortcomings, but concludes that although there are some technical and procedural constrains, Bulgaria provides generally timely and constructive assistance across the range of requests for international co-operation, including mutual legal assistance. On effectiveness, it is said that Bulgaria has achieved a low level of effectiveness in areas related to the use of financial intelligence, investigations and prosecutions of money laundering, confiscation of proceeds of crime or property of equivalent value, targeted financial sanctions related to proliferation financing and the prevention of misuse of legal persons and arrangements.

https://rm.coe.int/moneyval-2022-1-mer-bulgaria/1680a70913

https://search.coe.int/directorate_of_communications/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectId=0900001680a70353

Any modest contributions for my time and ongoing expenses are welcomed!  I have a page where you can do so, and where one-off contributions start as low as $3, at

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y

NOTE THAT THE ABOVE LINK IS NOW CORRECTED AND WORKS!