Brussels pledges new funding, enters landmark operational pact with UAE justice authorities, and endorses the Abu Dhabi Declaration.
BRUSSELS / ABU DHABI: The European Union has committed to a sweeping five-year international strategy to combat transnational crime, illicit trafficking, and cyber-enabled syndicates following the conclusion of the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Abu Dhabi.
The adoption of the Abu Dhabi Declaration establishes the global framework for criminal justice policies and multilateral enforcement through 2031. European delegates played an active role in negotiations, pushing for human-rights benchmarks, cross-border intelligence sharing, and targeted responses to financial crime and migrant smuggling.
On the sidelines of the weeklong summit, Eurojust President Michael Schmid and UAE Minister of Justice Abdullah Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi finalized a formal Working Agreement. The pact establishes direct operational links between European prosecutors and judicial authorities in the United Arab Emirates to dismantle complex cross-border criminal enterprises, track illicit cash flows, and accelerate mutual legal assistance.
Presenting the European bloc’s formal platform during the General Debate, Ambassador Carl Hallergård emphasized that effective enforcement cannot come at the expense of fundamental freedoms. Hallergård warned that global syndicates are increasingly exploiting artificial intelligence, encrypted logistics, and jurisdictional loopholes, requiring a coordinated multilateral response anchored strictly in the rule of law.
Under its newly unveiled “Pledge4Justice” initiative, the European Commission will fund and deploy targeted programs across vulnerable jurisdictions. Key projects scheduled for rollout include Themis, designed to modernize court administrations and judicial integrity, and Intercept, which targets human trafficking networks and transnational smuggling corridors. These projects join existing international missions such as EU-ACT, PLEAD II, and JUST4ALL.
Olivier Onidi, Deputy Director-General for Migration and Home Affairs at the European Commission, and Tommaso Chiamparini, the Commission’s Coordinator for victims’ rights, led working groups addressing migrant exploitation, protections for vulnerable witnesses, and child-sensitive judicial procedures. European negotiators also maintained focus on non-custodial sentencing alternatives and the global phasing out of capital punishment.
The European External Action Service stated in Brussels that international syndicates operate without borders, making unilateral national enforcement obsolete. European delegations plan to translate the Abu Dhabi Declaration into enforceable bilateral operational treaties over the coming year.
