Trillions of euros of corrupt funds are recycled through the global economy annually and less than 1% is being seized and frozen

The US has taken the lead in tackling this issue through the Global Magnitsky Act, banning visas and freezing the assets of corrupt individuals and human rights abusers. They were shortly followed by Canada, the United Kingdom and the three Baltic states, and there is growing consensus that the EU should adopt a similar legislation.

Beyond sanctions, the EU also needs to do better at confiscating and returning assets in a responsible manner.

Transparency International EU and CiFAR invite you to this conference to explore current EU developments on sanctions, including the prospect of the adoption of an EU-wide horizontal human rights sanctions regime and the upcoming review of the 2014 Directive on asset freezing and confiscation.

The agenda is below:

12:30 – 13:45    
Light lunch
 
13:45 – 14:10    
Introductory remarks by Carl Dolan, Director at Transparency International EU and keynote speech from Alexander Cooley, Director of the Harriman Institute, Columbia University

 14:10 – 14:30
Launch of EU Sanctions Watch, a new online tool to visualise EU sanctions-related data
 
14:30 – 16:00
Panel: Towards the adoption of an EU-wide global human rights sanctions regime – moderated by Michael Peel, Financial Times

• Dr Clara Portela, Faculty Member, University of Valencia
• Kateryna Ryzhenko, Transparency International Ukraine
• Rob Berschinski, Senior Vice President, Human Rights First

 
16:00 – 16:15     
Coffee break
 
16:15 – 17:30     
Panel: How can the EU do better at confiscating and returning stolen assets?

• Frédéric Pierson, Head of the Criminal Assets Bureau, EUROPOL
• Ute Stiegel, Deputy Head of Unit, Organised Crime and Drugs Policy, DG Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
• Emile J. M. Van Der Does De Willebois, Coordinator, Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative 
• Rachel Davies Teka, Head of Advocacy, Transparency International UK
• Laure Brillaud, Policy Officer, Anti-Money Laundering, Transparency International EU

17:30 – 18:30    
Concluding remarks and cocktail reception