News item | 25-04-2025 | 15:30
Together with Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden, the Netherlands wants to make the ports in Europe more resilient against organized crime. These 7 countries together form the coalition against organized crime (C7). This Tuesday, April 29, the C7 will present advice, a so-called ‘non-paper’, to the European Commission, Member States and public-private partners of the European Port Alliance at a meeting of the European Port Alliance. This contains various recommendations for the future deployment of this alliance.
Together with the other 6 countries, the Netherlands wants a guarantee that the security of European ports is adequate everywhere, with common safety standards. The C7 also finds it important to better detect corruption in the ports. In addition, the countries think it is important that cooperation with source and transit countries is promoted and information between relevant organizations is shared.
Due to the expertise in the field of port safety, the Netherlands plays a pioneering role in promoting resilience of European ports. The European port alliance is largely inspired by the existing cooperation between the Netherlands and Belgium. The ‘steering-committee‘Between the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg, for example, the advice explicitly emerges as Best Practice with regard to the cooperation between public-private partners.
Minister Van Weel (Justitie en Veiligheid): “Door te zorgen dat de Europese havens weerbaar worden gemaakt tegen georganiseerde criminaliteit kunnen we samen zorgen voor de veiligheid in onze havens. Drugscriminelen bedreigen en intimideren iedereen om hun illegale praktijken verder te brengen. Denk aan rechters, officieren van justitie, politieagenten, journalisten en burgemeesters. Maar ook werknemers in de haven, een belangrijke doorvoerlocatie van drugs, We have to do this together for the practices of drug criminals. “
With the offer of this advice, the C7 influences the further elaboration of the ambitions within the European port alliance, in particular in the field of public-private partnerships. This contributes to the Dutch ambition to make Europe more resilient against and more unattractive for organized drug crime.