ABSTRACTS Vincenzo Ruggiero, Organized and Corporate Crime in Europe, Aldershot, England: Dartmouth, 1996.

Ruggiero argues that the analysis of orga- nized, corporate, and white collar crime should be integrated. It should focus not on the status of the offender, but on the methods and substance of the offense. He provides sev- eral examples of case studies from the Euro- pean experience. These include: the innovative methods utilized by a Marseilles transport company that was prosecuted for trafficking in contraband cigarettes; a loan sharking op- eration in Italy that victimized approximately four million businesses; drug trafficking via the former USSR; and the counterfeiting of expensive perfumes. The author points out that these examples of organized crime con- trast with mafia-type activities in Italy. They illustrate the ability of organized crime groups to mobilize a criminal labor force, much like a major industry. The rigid divisions of labor in these criminal activities are similar to those in the official economy. Ruggiero suggests that organized crime thus derives authority from its role as job provider. Those crime groups that successfully infiltrate the official economy are more successful due to the ex- panded scope of their criminality and broader connections within society.

Within the Third Pillar, three steering groups reportto the Coordinating Commit- tee. They are: Immigration and Asylum; Se- curity, Police and Customs Cooperation; and Judicial Cooperation. The steering groups deal with issues concerning migration, visas, forged documents, terrorism, drugs and seri- ous organized crime, extradition, international organized crime, and criminal law, as well as several other areas. Moving upward in the organizational structure the Coordinating Committee reports to the Committee of Per- manent Representatives (COREPER), which in turn reports to the Council of EU Justice & Interior Ministers.

According to den Boer the focus on orga- nized crime is changing. Where EU Member States were once interested in more local or- ganized crime issues they are now focusing more attention on art and antiques theft, money laundering, counterfeiting, and credit card fraud. Dr. den Boer also reports that co- operative police efforts include undercover work as well as proactive policing. Judicial cooperation focuses on extradition issues and financial protection.

W. Bruggeman, "The Future of Opera- tional Co-operation between the Russian Federation and the European Union (EU/ EDU Initiatives)." Paper presented at the Joint Presidency and Finnish Ministry of the Interior Conference, Helsinki, Finland, December 4-5, 1996.

Monica den Boer, "Justice and Home Affairs Cooperation in the European Union: Current Issues," EIPASCOPE, 1996.

Dr. den Boer is a senior lecturer at the Euro- pean Institute of Public Administration. In this article, she writes extensively on the organi- zational structure of the Third Pillar on Jus- tice and Home Affairs Cooperation created under the Treaty on European Union. Her analysis focuses on the activities undertaken to combat cross-border problems.

Mr. Bruggeman, Assistant Coordinator of the Europot Drugs Unit, discusses means for achieving cooperation between EU countries and others to obtain specific results in three areas. They are: control of migration flows (e.g., asylum procedures, combating illegal immigration, trafficking in human beings); the fight against organized crime, and, in par- ticular, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption, smuggling of nuclear and radio- active materials and stolen cars, and combat- ing fraud involving the financial interests of the Union; and the fight against terrorism.

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He proposes a series of measures to coun- teract transnational crime at the international level in the form of joint operations and inter- national legal and justice cooperation. These include bilateral and multilateral mechanisms, and assistance programs such as the EU's existing activities with the countries that have applied for membership, states of the former Soviet Union, and the Mediterranean group. Mr. Bruggeman suggested that a strategy be developed based on the principles of neces- sity, common interest, avoidance of duplica- tion of efforts, and no prejudice for existing bilateral and multilateral agreements. This would be followed by a case-by-case dialogue to develop specific common projects and to create tools forcooperation.

"Anti-fraud Coordination in the EU," European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, Voi. 3, No. 2,1995.

The contributors to Part M of the collection discuss the impact of internal policies of the Third Pillar of the European Union on coop- eration against drug trafficking. The essays document the enhancement of police powers and the increase in penalties as drug intelli- gence systems have developed and European cooperation has expanded. An important question, the editors point out, is whether there will be more pan-European policing or pro- vincial and local involvement in drug control. They suggest that confederated countries such as Switzerland may offer a model to balance the different levels of decision-making (Pan- European, national, and city) that may be applied in the future. Targeting money laun- dering may not be the panacea originally thought because developing countries may have difficulty implementing provisions against it.

Organized crime groups are presently in- volved in EU fraud, although the financial costs of their involvement are hard to esti- mate. The focus of this anti-fraud discussion is on the losses to EU member states through agricultural frauds and customs evasion. The role of organized crime in this phenomenon cannot be overlooked, and it is presently under study by researchers in different EU states.

Organized crime groups are involved in the smuggling and sale of contraband cigarettes. Crime groups are moving away from violent crimes into fmancial crime, such as fraud. Frauds involving the EU budget are usually perpetrated by individuals from the member states. For example, individuals from former socialist states have acted jointly with indi- viduals resident within the EU to purchase goods for export that are then sold illegally within Europe.

Nicholas Dorn, Jcrgen Jepsen, and Ernesto Savona (eds.), European Drug Policies and Enforcement. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.

Brice de Ruyver, Willy Bruggeman, and Patrick Zanders, "Structural Forms of Cross-Border Crime," in Changes in Society, Crime and Criminal Justice in Europe, Cyrille Fijnaut, Johan Goethals, Tony Peters, and Lode Walgrave (eds.), Vol. 2. The Netherlands: Kluwer Law International, 1996.

The Belgian Ministry of Justice commissioned a study to assess the reasons for the high fre- quency of cross-border crime on the French and Belgian borders. The identified reasons for these high crime rates were as follows:

First, the border regions of the two coun- tries have diametrically opposite economic situ- ations. Youth unemployment in some cities in the French border area stands at 30-50 per- cent. Drug usage is high among this age group. Unemployment is lower and standards higher on the Belgian side. Second, border controls are somewhat limited. Third, police can ex- change information about criminals in border areas but cannot opera~ across ~ . Fourth, informal cooperation between the French and Belgian police has been infrequent.

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