European policymakers and law enforcement are struggling to combat an increasingly diverse network of organised crime groups. (Photo: ukhomeoffice)

Feature

The changing face of Europe's mafia

Rule of Law

by Benjamin Fox, Brussels,

European policymakers and law enforcement are struggling to combat an increasingly diverse network of organised crime groups. (Photo: ukhomeoffice)

The landscape of European organised crime is “completely changing”, dominated by groups that are “more powerful and flexible but smaller in terms of organisation”.

So says Ernesto Savona, a professor of criminology and director of Transcrime, a research centre on transnational crime based at universities in Milan and Trento.

“If you look at the overall picture of organised crime ... you are looking at a complete typology of groups ... small, medium and large, just like normal comp...