A Definition that Could not Work: the EU Framework Decision on the Fight against Organised Crime

This chapter argues that the definition of organised crime by the European Union Framework Decision on the Fight against Organised Crime (henceforth FD) is uncertain and vague, and that this makes the FD a poor instrument with little added value for the approximation of criminal legislation against organised crime. This criticism of the FD is based on both legal and criminological arguments, since the FD appears to be flawed from both perspectives. In the chapter, the first section provides brief background information on organised crime, harmonisation and approximation of criminal law in the EU. The second section then analyses the definition of "criminal organisation" as provided by the FD and the model offences criminalizing participation in a criminal organisation. Subsequently, the third section summarises the FD's problems relative to its added value in the approximation of criminal legislation against organised crime and suggests some possible improvements. Keywords:criminal legislation; European Union (EU); framework decision (FD); harmonisation; organised crime