On 6 May 2008, the Deputy Director of the Criminal Police Directorate at the General Police Directorate, Rajko Kozmelj, with his colleagues Anja Logonder, Uroš Lavrič and Borut Selan, chaired the regular meeting of the Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime (MDG) on the premises of the Council of the European Union in Brussels.

Mr Rajko Kozmelj, Ms Anja Logonder

The Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime, which includes representatives of justice and home affairs ministries, is intended for cooperation between the Member States in combating organised crime. During the Slovenian EU Council Presidency, they will meet 13 times. The purpose of the Slovenian Presidency at this meeting of the Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime was to obtain the consensus of the Member States in connection with some documents, in particular in connection with the draft conclusions of the EU Council on support to the organised crime threat assessment for the South Eastern European area and the draft conclusions of the Council on the annual report of the European Crime Prevention Network.

Uroš Lavrič, Borut Selan

The participants at the meeting focused on 10 documents. Among other things, they discussed support for common assessments of the threat of organised crime in South Eastern Europe. The Member States agreed that Europol, the interested Member States and the Commission should offer support to the SECI Centre, which will make an assessment. The first such common assessment of the threat of organised crime in South Eastern Europe is scheduled for the first quarter of 2009 and will provide a basis for the Organised Crime Threat Assessment for South Eastern Europe (SEE OCTA), which is to be made by Europol for the EU area.

The President of the Working Group on the EUCPN (European Crime Prevention Network), Tomaž Peršolja from the Criminal Police Directorate, presented the annual report of the European Crime Prevention Network for 2007, representing the achievement of objectives set for the last year and defining objectives for 2008 for the Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime.

The Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime reconsidered replies to the questionnaire on cross-border secondment of covert investigators in order to assess whether the harmonisation of legal norms in the EU Member States is necessary in this area. In the discussion, the Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime tried, among other things, to define the area to be assessed by the Member State police forces in 2009 and 2010. The proposal on mutual assessments in the area of financial investigations and financial crime received the strongest support.