The Criminal Organisation of Political Corruption in Europe

The paper presents the most important findings of a wider research conducted under the ANTICORRP project on “Organised crime and impact on vulnerable groups”, focusing on the infiltration of organised crime in three crucial policy sectors: public procurement, privatization of public utilities/services, and management of EU funds. The research aimed at filling a gap existing in both academic and policy-oriented research, in which the interaction between corruption and organised crime has been poorly addressed and analysed. The analysis is drawn from data collected in five European countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo). Data collection and analyses were conducted by five institutions across Europe (EUI, CSD, BCE, IKS, PSD). The methodology involves both extensive and intensive strategies of investigation. A quantitative assessment of the crime and politics nexus is based on the Organised Crime & Corruption (OCC) events database, in which events data about the link between criminal groups and political corruption have been gathered and assembled2. A qualitative assessment involves in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of corrupt exchanges, presented as 29 single case studies conducted in the countries covered by the research, inclusive of primary and secondary sources (interviews, legal proceedings, academic and policy-oriented reports). As will be shown later in the paper, the most striking outcome emerging from the collected evidence is the variety of groups and corrupt exchanges upon which information has been collected. The diversity of criminal groups within countries is perhaps the most startling feature of the data, suggesting that, even when we talk of organised crime within European countries, we are often in fact referring to a phenomenon which varies both across space and over time. The comparison across countries, on the contrary, shows that similar patterns might exist between criminal organisations in different countries when similar environmental conditions favour penetration of the legitimate economy and political institutions, and facilitate interdependence and reciprocity with both legitimate and political actors.