At its meeting on 13 June 2025, the Council (Justice and Home Affairs) approved its conclusions on the enhancement of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) and on the EU's crime priorities for the 2026-2029 EMPACT cycle.

EMPACT, established in 2010, tackles the most important threats posed by serious and organised international crime affecting the EU. It is a Member States-driven, permanent, and consolidated framework using an intelligence-led (evidence-based), multidisciplinary, and integrated approach to bring together law enforcement authorities, namely the police, customs and tax authorities, border guards, judicial authorities, other public authorities, and the private sector. This integrated approach aims at better coordinating the cooperation in the areas of information exchange, development and innovation, training and prevention with regard to internal security. Empact is coordinated by Europol and works in four-year cycles, with each cycle starting with the EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (EU SOCTA - for the 2025 EU SOCTA → related link). Each cycle continues with the development, implementation, and monitoring of biannual operational action plans (OAPs) and concludes with an independent evaluation.

The following seven EU crime priorities were identified by the Council in its conclusions for the next EMPACT cycle:

• Identifying and disrupting the most threatening criminal networks and individuals;
• Tackling the fastest growing crimes in the online sphere, namely cyberattacks, online child sexual exploitation, and online fraud schemes;
• Fighting drug trafficking by focusing on the production, trafficking, and distribution of cannabis, cocaine, heroin, synthetic drugs, and new psychoactive substances;
• Tackling migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings;
• Targeting firearms and explosives crime;
• Disrupting networks involved in environmental crime;
• Fighting economic and financial crime such as VAT and Missing Trader Intra-Community (MTIC) fraud, excise and customs fraud, intellectual property crime, and the counterfeiting of goods and currencies.

In order to successfully implement the EMPACT cycle, the Council is calling on the Commission to propose an increased allocation for EMPACT in the EU budget, including a higher EU contribution to Europol. Furthermore, it calls upon all relevant national and EU services and stakeholders to actively commit to implementing EMPACT by allocating resources for operational actions under the OAPs and by raising awareness of EMPACT among decision-makers, law enforcement practitioners, and other relevant stakeholders.