The EU combat against illegal immigration, smuggling, and trafficking in human beings: its impact on Spanish law: Emiliano García Coso

Introduction Cooperation between the member states of the European Union in the fight against organized crime began in the decade of the 1970s with the creation of the Trevi Group in 1976. This inter-governmental group was joined in 1985 by the Schengen Agreement with a view to eliminating the internal borders among the signatory states, free movement of persons, and cooperation in matters concerning police and security. However, the collaboration mechanisms against organized crime came about from the individual sovereignty of the states and were outside the scope of the European Community.