ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses organized crime in the European Union from the perspective of International Relations theory, more specifically organized crime as a hybrid threat. This choice places organized crime at the level of interstate analysis. It thus aims to complement the many valuable and indispensable contributions from disciplines such as criminology, law, anthropology, statistics, and sociology that provide important qualitative and quantitative insights into the phenomenon of organized crime, mostly at a non-state or local level. To this end, first a definition of the phenomenon is given, taking into consideration the European Union’s broad theoretical and practical approach to organized crime. That is then placed in the context of the theoretical framework of International Relations and hybrid threats. This provides the perspective from which the current situation on organized crime in the European Union is viewed. Two manifestations of organized crime will be presented, namely the practice of human smuggling, a part of the portfolio of organized crime, and activities surrounding drug trafficking. With the lessons learned from theory and practice, the focus then turns to the European Union’s response. Its policy responses are analyzed. An assessment of these policy responses, through the lens of International Relations theory, concludes this chapter.
