By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
THE EU’s police force must modernise to effectively fight financial crime, according to Europol executive director Catherine De Bolle.
She said the social and economic costs of organised crime are “simply too high”, adding that EU states must cooperate to stop criminals.
“No single country or organisation, however powerful, can confront them alone,” she said.
“That is why the law enforcement community must redouble its efforts to modernise. [To] strengthen, and deepen international police cooperation.”
Catherine de Bolle spoke at the European Police Chiefs Convention (EPCC) 2025. Over 400 police chiefs and senior law enforcement officials gathered at Europol’s headquarters in the Hague for the event.
The annual event brought together the heads of national police organisations, customs administrations, representatives from the European Commission, and international partners. They discussed the most pressing threats to security in Europe.
A panel at the event titled ‘Follow the Money’ explored how digital finance is increasingly exploited by criminals.
Europol said key challenges identified include:
- A shortage of specialists and investigative tools for blockchain and crypto tracing.
- Obstacles in cross-border investigations
- Rapidly evolving criminal techniques outpacing law enforcement’s capacity to investigate
Suggested solutions included:
- Expanding joint investigative ‘sprints’ to trace and seize criminal assets across borders
- Treating money laundering as a stand-alone criminal offence to speed prosecutions
- Pooling resources for specialised investigative tools for crypto and blockchain analysis.
Officials from 53 countries and 13 international organisations gathered for the event.
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