tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/europol-14459/articlesEuropol – The Conversation2021-06-09T01:44:18Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1623422021-06-09T01:44:18Z2021-06-09T01:44:18ZThe ‘most significant’ police operation in Australian history — how it worked and what it means for organised crime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405016/original/file-20210608-19-1tq1khx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Victoria Police/supplied</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian Federal Police made <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/world/australia/operation-trojan-horse-anom.html">global news</a> this week with the revelation its <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-led-operation-ironside-smashes-organised-crime">Operation Ironside</a> helped sting organised crime gangs around the world. </p>
<p>This was part of a broader, three-year operation with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/mass-raids-arrests-across-australia-after-police-sting-dismantles-encrypted-app-used-by-criminals-20210607-p57yya.html">described it</a> as the “most significant operation in policing history here in Australia”.</p>
<h2>How did it start?</h2>
<p>Operation Ironside started with an investigation and closing down by the FBI of a company called <a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/untoc20/truecrimestories/phantom-secure.html">Phantom Secure</a> in 2018. </p>
<p>The Vancouver-based company provided modified Blackberry phones that operated on an encrypted network that could not be decrypted or wire-tapped by police. These devices were used exclusively by criminal networks to conduct various criminal enterprises on a global scale. </p>
<p>Clients included the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40480405">Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel</a> and the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gang in Australia. Some 20,000 devices were believed to be in use at the time the company’s CEO, Vincent Ramos, was arrested in February 2018.</p>
<p>Next, the AFP and FBI worked together <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20799201-operation-trojan-shield-court-record">to fill the void</a> left by Phantom Secure with a new encrypted device named <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-08/fbi-afp-underworld-crime-bust-an0m-cash-drugs-murder/100197246">AN0M</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-an-app-to-decrypt-criminal-messages-was-born-over-a-few-beers-with-the-fbi-162343">How an app to decrypt criminal messages was born 'over a few beers' with the FBI</a>
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<p>Under <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-57394831">Operation Trojan Shield</a>, police distributed AN0M among criminals, using a confidential human source — a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/08/how-the-fbi-and-australian-police-gained-a-front-seat-view-of-underworld-workings-in-90-countries">convicted narcotics importer</a>. This source had been working with FBI agents since 2018 in exchange for the possibility of a reduced sentence for other charges he was facing.</p>
<p>This source has previously distributed Phantom Secure devices and agreed to distribute the devices to his existing network of distributors and clients.</p>
<p>As the AFP explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You had to know a criminal to get hold of one of these customised phones. The phones couldn’t ring or email. You could only communicate with someone on the same platform.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Little did criminals know that law enforcement and the source had built a master key into the existing encryption system. This master key surreptitiously attached to each message, enabling police to decrypt and store messages as they were transmitted. So, AN0M was a Trojan horse, not with Greeks inside, but law enforcement.</p>
<h2>Australia’s role</h2>
<p>Court records <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20799201-operation-trojan-shield-court-record">unsealed this week</a> provide a fascinating insight into how the operation unfolded. </p>
<p>In October 2018, the source distributed 50 devices to targets in Australia. In this test phase, Australian police saw 100% of the AN0M users were using the app for criminal activity. </p>
<p>Intercepted conversations also showed targets were willing to provide the devices to senior members of organised crime groups overseas. So, a global criminal investigation was now underway. </p>
<p>Since October 2019, the FBI has catalogued more than 20 million messages from a total of 11,800 devices in more than 90 countries. The top five countries where AN0M devices are currently used are Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, and Serbia. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">AFP officers talk about Operation Ironside.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With the assistance of Europol - the European Union’s law enforcement agency — the FBI identified more than 300 transnational organised crime groups using the AN0M devices for criminal enterprises.</p>
<p>The sophistication of the criminal operations is revealed by the fact criminal organisations compartmentalised their activities with multiple brands of hardened encrypted devices. </p>
<p>For example, some users assigned different types of devices to different parts of drug trafficking transactions. In some instances, AN0M was used for the logistics of the drug shipments, but <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/organised-crime-hangs-up-on-ciphr/news-story/33d0696a5c4d3b5574dbd6cfdfbeb0bb">Ciphr</a> or <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/sky-ecc-denies-police-have-cracked-encryption-messaging-platform/">Sky</a> were used to coordinate the concealment of the illicit proceeds. </p>
<p>This compartmentalisation shows how connected the encrypted communications device industry is to organised criminal activity.</p>
<h2>Implications for Australia</h2>
<p>The haul from Operation Ironside is impressive. </p>
<p>It has led to the arrest of 224 offenders on 526 charges in every mainland Australian state. Since 2018, 3.7 tonnes of drugs, 104 weapons, A$44,934,457 million in cash, and assets worth millions of dollars have been seized.</p>
<p>The AFP also responded to 20 threats to kill, potentially saving the lives of innocent bystanders, with intelligence referred to state police. For example, last week, police rescued <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/crime/former-bikie-dillon-mancuso-rescued-after-allegedly-being-kidnapped-in-sydney/news-story/455f340571c29063a746c965ca2ec8b1">former bikie Dillon Mancuso</a>, who was allegedly snatched from his Sydney home by a group of armed men.</p>
<h2>The challenge ahead</h2>
<p>But the operation has also shown how Australia has become a destination of choice for transnational organised crime groups. </p>
<p>In its annual report, the <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/publications/annual-reports/australian-criminal-intelligence-commission-annual-report-2019-20">Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission</a> notes about 70% of Australia’s serious and organised criminal threats are based offshore or have strong offshore links.</p>
<p>There is also a strong market for illegal drugs. As <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-led-operation-ironside-smashes-organised-crime">AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw acknowledged</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Organised crime syndicates target Australia, because sadly, the drug market is so lucrative. Australians are among the world’s biggest drug takers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Examples of this are the <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/mexican-drug-cartels-on-rise/news-story/c28395bd2d23fde4c5b530b4929a4f36">Mexican drug cartels</a> expanding into Australia’s lucrative methamphetamine market.</p>
<p>Law enforcement should be congratulated for the outcome of this operation — but this is far from the end of their work. While we have dealt transnational organised crime a heavy blow, the war will continue as law enforcement seek to stay one step ahead in the race against organised crime.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Goldsworthy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The haul from Operation Ironside is impressive. But it has also shown how Australia has become a destination of choice for transnational organised crime groups.Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1087142018-12-13T14:26:51Z2018-12-13T14:26:51ZItalian Mafia activities are expanding abroad – and European police forces are still unprepared<p>Members of the Italian mafia like to travel abroad – not necessarily for pleasure, but to make money. And the harm they are doing to European economies is often underplayed, trivialised or ignored.</p>
<p>Organised crime groups are good at exploiting business opportunities away from home. Companies set up for money laundering purposes distort European economies because their constant cash flow gives them an unfair advantage in the marketplace. </p>
<p>When I walk around London, I wonder how many of the busy nail bars, shops and restaurants are merely fronts for organised crime. For I was once told by a former member of the Neapolitan mafia: “The ambition for [an Italian] mafia member, is to go abroad, and particularly, England.” </p>
<p>They consider the UK to be an attractive destination because it is relatively easy to set up a company, and its legal system does not recognise “mafia membership” as a crime.</p>
<p>Officials are fighting back with some success, however. In December 2018, hundreds of Dutch, German, Belgian and Italian police officers <a href="https://www.thelocal.it/20181205/italy-ndrangheta-mafia-suspects-bust">arrested dozens of members</a> of the powerful Calabrian mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta, on suspicion of drug trafficking and money laundering activities across Europe. They also seized large amounts of drugs and cash from locations including Italian restaurants and ice cream parlours. </p>
<p>But is this too little, too late? Since the 1990s, there have been stark warnings of the harm Italian mafias can inflict on European countries as they exploit opportunities created by globalisation. </p>
<p>In 1991, British police based in Rome <a href="https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1991/11/13/londra-allarme-mafia-sono-sbarcati.html?ref=search">warned</a> of the presence of Italian mafias in the UK. Two years later, the French parliament <a href="http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/9/dossiers/933251.asp">reported</a> on the fight against the mafia’s attempt to penetrate France. Similar warnings were being made in the Netherlands. </p>
<p>But it wasn’t until 2012 that the European Parliament really addressed the situation. The following year, Europol (the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation) finally <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/publications-documents/threat-assessment-italian-organised-crime">published</a> an “Italian Organised Crime Threat Assessment”. </p>
<p>It attempted to fill the “important information gap” which exists around the activities of Italian mafias in Europe. As Europol itself <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/italian_organised_crime_threat_assessment_0.pdf">noted</a>, the “difficulty in collecting information” highlights the fact that mafias operate “under the radar” outside Italy. </p>
<p>Finally, in November 2018, Europol set up a specific operational network focusing on Italian mafia activities abroad, with the Italian Anti-mafia Police playing a <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/new-era-dawns-in-fight-against-mafia-groups-europol-key-player-in-brand-new-operational-network">leading role</a>. </p>
<p>This is an important step in the fight against Italian organised crime. But it is worth noting that it was a step mostly driven by Italian law enforcement agencies (whose success has helped to force Italian mafiosi and their money abroad to neighbouring countries) after the initiatives of the European Parliament. </p>
<h2>Mafia moves</h2>
<p>Now their fellow agencies across Europe must develop more efficient and coordinated strategies in response. Yet there appears to be no agreement on the action needed. The European Parliament and Europol remain limited and isolated if the majority of their members still refuse to engage with the problem. As one Italian prosecutor told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My job is to investigate Italian mafias and their activities in Italy, not when they travel abroad. If my European colleagues are not interested in following up the information I provide them with on Italian mafia suspects, I cannot do very much more.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ultimately, there is a lack of understanding across Europe about what mafia membership crime looks like – which can be difficult if you have not witnessed first hand the power of a mafia, and how it imposes itself on society, economics and politics. </p>
<p>As criminal groups travel and export their activities abroad, there needs to be flexibility around policing. Organised crime groups thrive as borders come down, whereas law enforcement agents appear to flounder when closer international cooperation is required. They become entangled in bureaucratic procedures and cultural misunderstandings. Different legal systems need to work together to avoid situations where criminals can be condemned in one country but go free in another. </p>
<p>We also need to address the lack of political will to tackle organised crime and mafia activities. European politicians engage and seek to defeat terrorism but as far as Italian mafias and organised crime go – and their ability to infiltrate legal economies and launder their proceeds of crime, made more often than not, from drug trafficking – there is no consistent political will to defeat them. </p>
<p>The recent arrests of 'Ndrangheta members across Europe can be seen as a concrete step forward. But it also highlights how far we are behind in terms of understanding and developing a coordinated European strategy to follow Italian mafia money.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108714/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felia Allum receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust.
</span></em></p>Working abroad can be a profitable option for members of criminal groups.Felia Allum, Senior Lecturer in Italian and Politics, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/719142017-01-26T10:05:57Z2017-01-26T10:05:57ZGrim outlook for Africans seeking refuge as Trump looks to ban Somalis, Sudanese<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154348/original/image-20170126-23858-gdkbd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Demonstrators gather at Washington Square Park to protest against President Trump in New York.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Shannon Stapleton</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Less than a week into his presidency, Donald Trump has made good on his signature campaign threat to start <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/donald-trump-immigration-234142">building a wall</a> on the border with Mexico. A second executive order will facilitate swifter deportations for illegal immigrants. But this is only a start, with other measures set to be announced this week. </p>
<p>These include a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/read-draft-text-trump-executive-order-muslim-entry_us_5888fe00e4b0024605fd591d?0lwdu2cbey5htzkt9">range of restrictions</a> on citizens from seven war-torn countries in the Middle East and Africa. These are expected to include a temporary ban on most refugees and a suspension of visas. Sudan, Libya and Somalia are said to be on the list.</p>
<p>Questioned about when the additional measures would be announced, White House spokesman Sean Spicer <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/25/donald-trump-sign-mexico-border-executive-order">said</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>You’ll see more action this week about keeping America safe.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Trump pledged during his election campaign to do just this by using what he termed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/02/donald-trump-syria-refugees-us-immigration-security-terrorism">“extreme vetting”</a>. This comes after complaints from the president’s favourite website –Breitbart – that refugees from conflict zones were <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/01/22/refugee-flow-somalia-afghanistan-continues-us/">still being resettled</a> in the US. </p>
<p>The developments will be a real blow to America’s large and thriving Somali and Libyan communities, for whom family reunions and visits from loved ones will be increasingly difficult. There were more <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/">than 150,000</a> Somali immigrants resident in the US as of 2015. Most entered <a href="http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/almost-100000-somali-refugees-admitted-us-911">after the 9/11</a> attacks.</p>
<p>It comes as the communities have been putting down roots, with the Somalis having elected their <a href="http://time.com/4564296/ilhan-omar-first-somali-legislator/">first legislator</a>, Ilhan Omar. Omar, herself a refugee, is now an elected representative in Minnesota. It was a huge achievement, which she was keen to celebrate: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>For me, this is my country, this is for my future, for my children’s future and for my grandchildren’s future to make our democracy more vibrant, more inclusive, more accessible and transparent which is going to be useful for all of us.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But it is not just Trump and the US throwing up barriers to Africans. The European Union is moving fast to halt the arrival of refugees and migrants on its southern shores, and is close to achieving the virtual “wall” that Trump is set on erecting.</p>
<h2>Europe moves to seal migrant routes</h2>
<p>Europe is close to sealing the routes refugees and migrants take across the Mediterranean. Consider the facts. These are the <a href="http://frontex.europa.eu/assets/Publications/Risk_Analysis/FRAN_2016_Q2.pdf">routes</a> into southern Europe. (Map: Frontex Risk Analysis, Q2 2016)</p>
<p>The graphic produced by the EU’s Frontier Agency is clear: the major route that Africans are taking is via Libya.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154344/original/image-20170126-23875-14e5r84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154344/original/image-20170126-23875-14e5r84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154344/original/image-20170126-23875-14e5r84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154344/original/image-20170126-23875-14e5r84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154344/original/image-20170126-23875-14e5r84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154344/original/image-20170126-23875-14e5r84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154344/original/image-20170126-23875-14e5r84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The map below, from the same source, underlines the point.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154345/original/image-20170126-23845-zgf2xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154345/original/image-20170126-23845-zgf2xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154345/original/image-20170126-23845-zgf2xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154345/original/image-20170126-23845-zgf2xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154345/original/image-20170126-23845-zgf2xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154345/original/image-20170126-23845-zgf2xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/154345/original/image-20170126-23845-zgf2xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Two routes that Africans have used in the past have almost been sealed. There is next to no transit by sea from West Africa through the Canary Islands and only a limited number arriving in Spain.</p>
<p>The Egyptian route through the Sinai and Israel has also been closed. The brutal treatment of Eritreans and Sudanese in the Sinai by mafia-style Bedouin families, who extracted ransoms with torture and rape, was certainly a deterrent. But this route was sealed in December 2013 when the Israeli authorities built an almost impregnable fence, blocking entry via <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Construction-of-Israel-Egypt-border-fence-has-been-completed-333927">the Sinai</a>.</p>
<p>This has left Libya – and to a lesser extent Egypt – as the only viable route for Africans to use. Both are becoming more difficult. There has been the increasing propensity of Egypt to deport Eritreans to their home country, despite the risks that they will be jailed and abused when they are returned. </p>
<h2>Libya, the final brick in the wall</h2>
<p>Libya is critical to the success of the EU’s strategy, as a recent European assessment explained: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Libya is of pivotal importance as the primary point of departure for the <a href="https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/com_2016_700_f1_communication_from_commission_to_inst_en_v8_p1_english.pdf">Central Mediterranean route</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The EU has adopted new tactics to try to seal the central Mediterranean route. The countries keenest to push for this are Germany and Italy, which have taken the bulk of the refugees in recent years. </p>
<p>Earlier this month Italy’s Interior Minister Marco Minniti was dispatched to Tripoli to broker an agreement on fighting irregular migration through the country with Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the UN-backed Government of National Accord. Minniti and al-Sarraj <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security-italy-idUSKBN14T2BJ">agreed</a> to reinforce cooperation on security, the fight against terrorism and human trafficking. </p>
<p>Mario Giro, Italy’s deputy foreign minister, told the Financial Times:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is a new impulse here – we are moving as pioneers. But there is a lot of work to do, because Libya still doesn’t yet have the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e0e56ed4-d97f-11e6-944b-e7eb37a6aa8e">capacity</a> to manage the flows, and the country is still divided.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Italian proposals are very much in line with agreements the EU reached with African leaders during their <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2015/11/latest-deal-migration-europe-wooing-africa-s-dictators">summit in Malta</a> in late 2015. The two sides signed a deal to halt the flight of refugees and migrants.</p>
<p>Europe offered training to “law enforcement and judicial authorities” in new methods of investigation and “assisting in setting up specialised anti-trafficking and smuggling police units”. The European police forces of Europol and the EU’s border force (Frontex) will assist African security police in countering the “production of forged and fraudulent documents”.</p>
<p>This meant co-operating with dictatorial regimes, like Sudan, which is ruled by <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/albashir">Omar al-Bashir</a>. He is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. </p>
<p>What is clear is that Europe is determined to do all it can to reduce and finally halt the flow of Africans through Libya – the only viable route left for most African migrants and refugees to reach Europe. </p>
<p>Now Trump is joining these efforts with his own restrictions. For Africans fleeing conflicts the prospects look increasingly grim.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71914/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Plaut is affiliated with the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London; the Royal African Society and Chatham House</span></em></p>It is not just Trump and the US throwing up barriers to Africans. The European Union is moving fast to halt the arrival of refugees and migrants on its southern shoresMartin Plaut, Senior Research Fellow, Horn of Africa and Southern Africa, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/572482016-04-07T14:16:31Z2016-04-07T14:16:31ZWhat has the EU ever done for us?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117817/original/image-20160407-16260-uyq8rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Just what are the fruits of the union?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">gemstock/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Think labour protection, enhanced social welfare, <a href="http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/smoking.htm">smoke-free workplaces</a>, equal pay legislation, holiday entitlement, and the right <a href="https://www.gov.uk/maximum-weekly-working-hours/overview">not to work more than a 48-hour week</a> without overtime.</p>
<p>Also consumer protection, product safety, enhanced policing, <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/labelling_nutrition/labelling_legislation/index_en.htm">food labelling</a>, bans on growth hormones, trade ties, environmental legislation, <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/euro/why/consumer/index_en.htm">price transparency</a>, work placements.</p>
<p>Oh and just the small matter of how free movement of labour has benefited millions, as have portable pensions and access to healthcare. Not bad for the yearly cost of just <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/202a60c0-cfd8-11e5-831d-09f7778e7377.html#axzz4584YgB3H">£260 a household</a>.</p>
<p>For 60 years the EU has been the <a href="http://europa.eu/about-eu/basic-information/about/index_en.htm">foundation of peace</a> between European neighbours after centuries of bloodshed. It has assisted the political, social and economic transformation of 14 former dictatorships. This union is now facing significant upheaval, along with a possible decline <a href="http://www.theweek.co.uk/eu-referendum">in the perks</a> we have had as a member state for the past 43 years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117743/original/image-20160406-28945-13iqn2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117743/original/image-20160406-28945-13iqn2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117743/original/image-20160406-28945-13iqn2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117743/original/image-20160406-28945-13iqn2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117743/original/image-20160406-28945-13iqn2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117743/original/image-20160406-28945-13iqn2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117743/original/image-20160406-28945-13iqn2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117743/original/image-20160406-28945-13iqn2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Current EU status: borderline.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">1000 Words/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among some of the biggest changes brought by EU membership is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/04/brexit-could-put-britains-environment-at-risk-says-stanley-johnson">environmental legislation</a> – which was heavily resisted by UK governments. We now have clean beaches and rivers populated by fish and even otters in every county in England. The union has the strongest wildlife protection in the world and has enhanced animal welfare in food production – but Brexit <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/04/brexit-could-put-britains-environment-at-risk-says-stanley-johnson">could put all this at risk</a>. </p>
<p>The EU has restricted waste removal to landfill and promoted a <a href="http://www.recyclinginternational.com/recycling-news/9577/research-and-legislation/europe/eurostat-less-waste-and-more-recycling-eu">recycling culture</a>. It has introduced anti-trust laws that reduce monopolisation and has brought <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Comparative_price_levels_of_consumer_goods_and_services">cheaper goods</a> and services including air travel and telephony. </p>
<p>Single market competition has also brought quality improvements and better industrial performance, with <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/international-trade-paperwork-the-basics">no paperwork or customs</a> for exports throughout the European Economic Area. </p>
<p>Although the UK hasn’t adopted the euro, it has given us price transparency and the removal of commission on currency exchange throughout the eurozone. Citizens have <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/citizenship/docs/guide_free_movement_low.pdf">freedom to travel</a>, live and work across Europe. </p>
<p>The EU has helped broaden horizons by sponsoring thousands of young people to undertake <a href="https://www.britishcouncil.org/study-work-create/opportunity/work-volunteer/erasmus-traineeship">study or work</a> placements abroad, while EU-funded research disproportionately benefits UK universities and underpins industrial innovation and collaborative enterprise. </p>
<p>International security has also been enhanced with the European arrest warrant – by <a href="https://www.europol.europa.eu/">Europol</a> – and by cross-border policing to combat human trafficking, arms and drug smuggling, as well as counter-terrorism intelligence. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117818/original/image-20160407-16275-16li9sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117818/original/image-20160407-16275-16li9sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117818/original/image-20160407-16275-16li9sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117818/original/image-20160407-16275-16li9sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117818/original/image-20160407-16275-16li9sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117818/original/image-20160407-16275-16li9sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117818/original/image-20160407-16275-16li9sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">EU legislation has helped to improve our green and pleasant land.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Dixon/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>European civil and military cooperation in Europe and Africa has delivered material benefits to millions in post-conflict regions, and the EU Common Security and Defence Policy is further engaged in <a href="http://eeas.europa.eu/piracy/index_en.htm">combating piracy off Somalia</a> and in humanitarian rescue operations in the Mediterranean. </p>
<p>The union has also supported democracy and human rights across Europe and beyond, while EU-sponsored investment has contributed to better living standards and boosted educational, social and cultural capital here at home and throughout the continent. </p>
<p>Need I go on?</p>
<h2>Parting ways</h2>
<p>When it comes to trade ties, we all know the union is our major trading partner, both for imports and exports. Our trade deficit will remain even if post-Brexit we stop buying goods from the EU and import from elsewhere – probably at much higher cost. </p>
<p>This would end up <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21695544-it-would-be-hard-britain-negotiate-good-trade-deals-post-brexit-unfavourable-trade-winds">costing us</a> more not less. The renegotiation of hundreds of bilateral trade deals would also be a complex and time-consuming process which Brexit campaigners dismiss all too lightly. </p>
<p>Having left the EU, if we still want to trade with the single European market we will still pay into the EU budget. And not much less than we currently contribute, just as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/27/norway-eu-reality-uk-voters-seduced-by-norwegian-model">Norway</a> and Switzerland now pay. </p>
<p>We will also still be obliged to have <a href="http://openeurope.org.uk/intelligence/britain-and-the-eu/what-if-there-were-a-brexit/">open borders</a> allowing free movement of labour, because this is a basic principle of the <a href="http://www.europeanpolicy.org/en/european-policies/single-market.html">four freedoms</a> that underpin the single European market: the free movement of goods, services, people and capital. </p>
<p>Outside the EU there will be no option but to apply EU environmental and single market law in its entirety. But we will have no voice in the European Commission, the European Council, or the European Parliament where laws are made.</p>
<p>On top of this, we would lose agricultural and structural funding that has benefited areas of industrial decline throughout the UK regions. </p>
<p>So what has the EU ever done for us? A whole lot it would seem. We face a critical choice on June 23. Purely from a position of self-interest, we risk losing the advantages that membership brings, and undermine all that the UK has contributed to Europe – not least the single market itself. </p>
<p>Worse still, Brexit could inflict severe damage on the European Union. We in Britain would not escape the consequences of its disintegration. It is surely in the UK’s interests to commit to an EU future. Only from within can we assist the union’s democratic renewal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57248/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Sweeney is a member of the Liberal Democrats.
</span></em></p>The EU is responsible for a whole lot more than just making it illegal to eat your pet horse.Simon Sweeney, Senior Lecturer in International Political Economy and Business, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/437482015-06-25T16:14:30Z2015-06-25T16:14:30ZEuropol tasked with online search-and-destroy mission to combat Islamic State<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86278/original/image-20150624-31501-wa528z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Terrorism has moved online, and policing must follow.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">ISIS by GongTo\Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Europol has set up a Europe-wide unit <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11691123/Europe-wide-police-unit-to-monitor-Islamic-State-social-media.html">to search and remove social media accounts</a> run by or linked to the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in an effort to tackle the growing threat of unopposed jihadi propaganda online.</p>
<p>The specialist team will be modelled on the UK’s Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit, (<a href="https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Counter_Terrorism_Internet_Referral_Unit">CTIRU</a>), a joint Scotland Yard and Home Office unit, and will aim to take down IS-affiliated sites within two hours while providing information to other counter-terrorist investigators.</p>
<p>IS has so far demonstrated its effective use of social media for propaganda. IS members living across northern Syria and north-western Iraq use their personal social media accounts to spread their message worldwide, and this decentralised approach has proven hard to tackle.</p>
<p>It is estimated that <a href="https://www.rusi.org/analysis/commentary/ref:C55893A6C7A17A">more than 25,000 foreign fighters have joined the group</a> in this region, their daily messages reaching a global audience in various languages. These social media accounts have been used to recruit foreign fighters, encourage women to travel to the region to become jihadi brides and to encourage families from around the world to join IS.</p>
<p>It’s this growing number of citizens flowing into Syria and Iraq that has led Europol’s Director, Rob Wainwright, to warn of the problems faced by European police forces trying to monitor terrorists’ online communications. Tackling the propaganda is made more difficult by the fact that suspects in Syria and Iraq are <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30799637">effectively out of reach</a>. </p>
<p>Use of the more hidden, harder-to-reach areas of the web – the dark web – and encrypted communications make it harder still. Wainwright has added his voice to others in law enforcement that have warned tech firms to consider the impact of sophisticated encryption on law enforcement.</p>
<p>On Twitter alone, Wainwright believes IS has up to 50,000 accounts, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32087919">tweeting up to 100,000 messages a day</a>. A study by Brookings University researchers claimed the number of accounts <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/%7E/media/research/files/papers/2015/03/isis-twitter-census-berger-morgan/isis_twitter_census_berger_morgan.pdf">as high as 90,000</a>.</p>
<p>Rita Katz of the SITE Intelligence Group has also highlighted the difficulty intelligence agencies and police face monitoring social media and encrypted electronic communications. IS <a href="http://news.siteintelgroup.com/blog/index.php/entry/377-how-the-islamic-state-is-still-thriving-on-twitter">circumvents the blocking of their accounts</a> through using multiple back-up accounts, urging followers to follow up to six accounts tweeting the same message. Katz believes that IS on Twitter is a real threat, a launch pad for recruitment or encouragement for lone wolf attacks, and to send dangerous messages to every corner of the world. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86279/original/image-20150624-31518-556s5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86279/original/image-20150624-31518-556s5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86279/original/image-20150624-31518-556s5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86279/original/image-20150624-31518-556s5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86279/original/image-20150624-31518-556s5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86279/original/image-20150624-31518-556s5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86279/original/image-20150624-31518-556s5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Social media is a major source of recruitment propganda.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">flags by Steve Allen/shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Europe’s response</h2>
<p>This issue of the use of the internet to facilitate radicalisation and terrorism was recognised by the Council of the European Union in March 2015, from which has emerged the <a href="http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-7266-2015-INIT/en/pdf">Europol Internet Referral Unit</a>, tasked with co-ordinating and sharing information about terrorist and extremist online content. </p>
<p>This builds on Europol’s <a href="https://euobserver.com/justice/24162">Check the Web</a> initiative from 2007. But while this had success in child abuse and human trafficking investigations early on its existence, it has had limited success tackling terrorism, especially since the Snowden revelations in 2013 – so has struggled to counter IS. This may reflect the difficulty investigators face in securing co-operation from telecoms providers and ISPs in order to access details of suspected terrorists. Telecoms firms adopt attitudes that often reflect the concerns of their customers over privacy. </p>
<p>Such concerns about the growth of a surveillance society and the need to protect individual’s right to privacy grown since the revelations from documents released by former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, which have revealed that the <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-government-clips-nsa-wings-but-snooping-is-a-global-effort-42771">NSA</a> and its <a href="https://theconversation.com/gchq-datasharing-with-the-nsa-deemed-unlawful-but-dont-expect-things-to-change-37309">UK counterpart GCHQ</a> conducted surveillance beyond their lawful powers.</p>
<p>An advantage of Europol taking the lead in monitoring IS is that privacy and data protection rights are deeply embedded in EU law. This will apply to Europol too since it <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09546553.2010.538276">became a legal EU body</a> under the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. This provides an important chain of accountability with direct scrutiny by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) possible. </p>
<p>Only recently the ECJ has shown how it is prepared to be ruthless in protecting privacy and data protection rights, in a case in which it found the 2006 EU Directive on data protection itself <a href="https://www.eff.org/node/81899">invalid</a>. The ECJ held that legislation must lay down clear and precise rules governing the scope and application of surveillance as well as imposing minimum safeguards to prevent misuse of data. </p>
<p>This would also apply to the Europol’s terrorist monitoring unit, and with the right safeguards in place Europol is likely to find it easier to win the co-operation of telecoms firms and ISPs, which in turn will make it a more effective unit. Of course this is still a difficult task, but it’s a step in the right direction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43748/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Lowe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tackling extremist and terrorist propaganda online is vital, but must be done with safeguards in mind.David Lowe, Principal Lecturer in Law, Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/363852015-01-16T19:27:50Z2015-01-16T19:27:50ZBelgium terror raids and Paris attacks reveal urgent need for pan-European security<p>In the immediate aftermath of major attacks in Paris, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30840160">counter-terrorism raids in Belgium</a> saw two suspected terrorists killed and another arrested. </p>
<p>These incidents have dramatically raised the sense of insecurity across Europe – and they’ve done so at a time when Europe’s security infrastructure is struggling to cope with the threats it faces. European security agencies, both internal and external, must urgently improve their co-operation and co-ordination. After all, Europe’s security challenges know no borders, and they must be dealt with as such. </p>
<p>To complicate matters further, the news from Belgium and France has also reignited the long-running debate on balancing the three dimensions of the European Union’s <a href="http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/justice_freedom_security/index_en.htm">Area of Freedom, Security and Justice</a> (AFSJ).</p>
<p>One of these freedoms, the freedom of movement of people across the so called Schengen Area, is one of the EU’s fundamental principles. When border controls were eliminated within Schengen, there were fears that illegal activities such as organised crime and terrorism would benefit at least as much as the legal economy it was meant to help. </p>
<p>It was therefore accepted there would need to be much tighter security measures at the EU’s external borders and greater co-operation between security agencies across the EU. </p>
<p>Numerous agencies and databases have been created to reach the required level of security co-operation, including <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/01/16/ap-interview-europol-chief-says-foiling-every-terror-attack-is-extremely/">Europol</a>, <a href="http://www.eurojust.europa.eu/Pages/home.aspx">Eurojust</a>, <a href="http://frontex.europa.eu/">Frontex</a> and the <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/schengen-information-system/index_en.htm">Schengen Information System</a> (SIS) – and yet co-operation and information-sharing across the EU are still fraught with serious problems. </p>
<h2>Come together</h2>
<p>The different security traditions, cultures, and policies across the EU mean that the shift to real operational co-operation has been slow. Policing culture across Europe varies significantly, and priorities differ almost as much. </p>
<p>Simply setting up transnational agencies has done little to remedy this. Yes, Europol’s Hague headquarters may boast liaison officers from across the EU and a number of various partner states, but it can only be as effective as the information they have to work with, and that is still up to the states themselves.</p>
<p>In the end, most European countries still approach the sharing of information and intelligence on a traditional “need-to-know” basis, rather than “need-to-share”.</p>
<p>Overcoming this obstacle will exacerbate the struggles European security agencies already have in processing and making sense of the mass of information to determine who and what the threats are. As the saying goes, Europe is drowning in information, but starved of knowledge.</p>
<p>The attacks in Paris and the raid in Belgium are sure signs that the once–separate realms of internal and external security are more closely connected than ever. With suspected jihadist groups radicalising and operating within Europe as well as travelling overseas, the interconnections between domestic and foreign security issues are getting deeper as a matter of necessity. </p>
<p>The problem remains that the agencies concerned are getting no better at co-operating. And if the resistance to sharing intelligence between domestic police forces is a problem, it is a small one compared to the cultural, political and legal difficulties of sharing between internal and external security agencies. </p>
<p>The slow pace of information flow between very different agencies raises serious questions about the viability of Europe’s security architecture. Meanwhile, bringing the internal and external security apparatus of European states and the EU closer together brings us back to the dilemma of ensuring security while preserving fundamental freedoms and democracy.</p>
<p>That much was starkly illustrated by the proposals coming out of the <a href="http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/eu-leaders-to-discuss-terrorism-at-february-summit/">emergency meeting of EU interior ministers</a> on January 11, after the Paris attacks. </p>
<h2>Blocked</h2>
<p>Among other things, the assembled ministers called for the urgent adaptation of a <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/20141110IPR78121/html/MEPs-debate-plans-to-use-EU-Passenger-Name-Record-(PNR)-data-to-fight-terrorism">European passenger name record framework</a> for flights within the EU, not just those crossing its external borders. That has so far been blocked in the European Parliament by MEPs who fear what damage it could do to individual freedoms and privacy. </p>
<p>The recent counter-terrorism <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/belgium-hold-news-conference-anti-terror-raid-181223281.html">operations and arrests across Europe</a> show that security agencies are moving towards quicker and sharper preventative action. What they do not demonstrate is that there is yet any seriously co-ordinated approach to European security. </p>
<p>Achieving that is central to reducing the sense of insecurity across Europe at a frightening and dangerous time. But there is little sign Europe is confident about how to do it without undermining the very freedoms it is trying to protect.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36385/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alistair Shepherd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most European countries still approach the sharing of intelligence on a traditional ‘need-to-know’ – rather than ‘need-to-share’ – basis.Alistair Shepherd, Senior Lecturer in European Security, Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.