EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (EU-SOCTA)

Serious and organised crime is an increasingly dynamic and complex phenomenon that requires robust, intelligence-led response by EU law enforcement.

While traditional crime areas such as international drug trafficking remain a principal cause of concern, the effects of globalisation in society and business have facilitated the emergence of significant new variations in criminal activity.

Criminal networks exploit legislative loopholes, the internet and conditions associated with the economic crisis to generate illicit profits at low risk, for example.

One of Europol’s flagship reports, the EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (EU-SOCTA) updates Europe’s law enforcement community and decision-makers on such developments in serious and organised crime and the threats it poses to the EU.

Informed by its analysis of the prevailing threats, the EU-SOCTA identifies a number of high priority crime areas that the operational response in the EU should focus on.

EU-SOCTA 2025 report

Data and sources

The EU-SOCTA 2025 data collection is three-layered:

1. Data already available at Europol for the purpose of analysis, information exchange or cross-checking.
2. External data collected from Member States, third countries, and other relevant partners. Member States and third countries contributed via dedicated questionnaires for criminal networks and crime areas. Third countries were requested to report on links to the EU or criminal activity at EU level. As multidisciplinary input is crucial to achieve an integrated and integral approach, contributors were encouraged to collect data from all available sources, including from relevant non-law enforcement authorities. For the first time in the series of EU-SOCTA reports, partners in the private sector were invited, via relevant Europol Advisory Groups, to contribute.
3. Open-source information was used as a complementary data source. It includes research, reports, official statistical data, case examples, or contextual information from academic institutions, research networks, think tanks, global institutions, national authorities and other centres of expertise. The use of open sources was verified and approved as part of the review process. Members of the EU-SOCTA Academic Advisory Group contributed research on drivers, impact and outlook on organised crime, as well as methodological advice.

EMPACT

EMPACT provides a robust framework that brings together the law enforcement authorities of the Member States, Europol and a wide range of multi-disciplinary partners in the fight against serious and organised crime. EMPACT translates strategic objectives at European level into concrete operational actions against serious and organised crime.

EMPACT is an instrument adopted by the European Union in 2010 to address the most significant criminal threats facing the EU. It optimises coordination and cooperation on the crime priorities agreed by all Member States. During the cycle, all concerned services and stakeholders, at national and EU level, are invited to allocate resources and mutually reinforce efforts. Considering the rapidly evolving nature of crime, Europol also prepares a mid-term review of new, changing or emerging threats, in cooperation with Member States and relevant EU agencies.

Priorities

The EU-SOCTA develops recommendations for priority setting in the fight against serious and organised crime for the EU policy level. It describes and assesses threats regarding all crime areas under Europol’s mandate, the criminal actors, crime infrastructure, and geographical dimension, taking into account the drivers for and impact of SOC. In addition, it identifies those that are key threats to address as an EU priority in the fight against SOC for the next four years in the context of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).