The roundtable session opened with an acknowledgement by participants that the processes of globalization have made the fight against crime more complicated. Criminal activities have spread worldwide, expanding with the internationalization of trade and growth in migration flows. At the same time, however, organized crime has maintained a strong local flavor, due to its embeddedness in local communities and its permeation into the fabric of society.
Whilst it is difficult to gauge the economic magnitude of criminal activities, it was noted that the International Monetary Fund has estimated the value of mafia money-laundering operations in Italy as 118 billion euro per year, a figure which, net of costs, translates into a tidy sum of 90 billion euro in liquid funds for organized crime. The main sources of income for criminal organizations include not only drug trafficking but also usury (which in Italy generates between 12-15 billion euro a year) and extortion (which yields the mafia 9 billion euro a year). 70% of this money is reinvested in the legal economy, thereby triggering a dangerous process of contamination.
In order to effectively combat this trend, cooperation between all state institutions and agencies is necessary, including not only the government and the judiciary but also the parliament, which must put in place legislative mechanisms that keep pace with changes in criminal behavior. It was observed that significant new measures are about to be introduced in Italy in this respect, such as the application throughout the country of mechanisms for tracing the flow of funds under public works contracts. Nevertheless, the participants also stressed that a review of money-laundering legislation is also needed, with a view to improving suspected laundering reporting requirements (which currently give rise to so many reports as to often be ineffective) and to introducing measures dealing with self-laundering.
It was further noted that the fight against organized crime is also focusing on criminal assets, in the knowledge that eroding criminal holdings necessarily produces a chain reaction that weakens mafia organizations, as well as yielding valuable resources. Indeed, 1.8 billion euro seized from confiscated bank accounts has already been transferred to the Italian Consolidated Justice Fund. The participants emphasized, however, that seizing assets is not enough – they also need to be managed. In point of fact, the administration of seized assets remains a difficult issue, particularly when it involves businesses rather than personal or real property. To ensure the effective management of confiscated businesses, new measures are required that enable more timely intervention. It was conceded that an important first step in this direction has been taken with the establishment of the National Agency for Seized and Confiscated Assets, but further efforts are needed to simplify the procedure for transferring seized assets to the state, which often too takes too long and is overly complex.
In addition, the problem of the isolation faced by private individuals and public officials involved in the daily struggle against organized crime needs to be addressed. The state should be more proactive in this regard and ensure that it has a more tangible presence by increasing the role of prefectures (which could become a point of reference for those wishing to invest in Southern Italy) and by deploying the army in new and different ways. Stationing military bases in the South, for instance, would contribute not only to maintaining public order, but also expose young people to positive lawful and professional role models. Finally, with appropriate reforms the National Anti-Mafia Directorate could take on a different role, shifting its focus away from criminal policing responsibilities to intelligence activities.
Alongside the role of the state, the contribution of Italian civil society is also crucial. The participants felt it was incumbent on industry associations to support the efforts of administrators of confiscated businesses and of entrepreneurs fighting to prevent criminal infiltration. In this regard, the participants pointed to the Protocol on Legality devised by Confindustria Sicilia as an example of cooperation in this field between the state and business associations, and as a paradigm that should be extended to the rest of Italy.
