Literature exploration and open access bibliography

Based on a critical reflection of relevant literature, the review shows that both organized crime and terrorist networks become more and more complex and the diversity of the forms organisations is increasing. Organized crime groups are becoming more and more flexible and divers. Globalisation and the internet have produced international networks, which rely on a broad portfolio of criminal activities that created experts and professionals within the networks. However, despite the globalisation of organized crime activities, ethnicity and kinship still plays a role both at a larger and a smaller scale, as research on local distribution or protection networks has shown.
Terrorist networks are very much based on ideology and identity, with social marginalisation and institutional change as main drivers of engagement. Regarding the structures, research has shown that the form of organisation is changing from centralized organisations towards networks of cells that act more or less autonomously. This development is facilitated by the digital communication technologies, with terrorist networks having their own experts for encryption and secure communication.
Other and especially recent approaches emphasize the similarities between organized crime and terrorist networks. Although connections between the phenomena are recognized, critical scholars point out that there are fundamental variations and hence it is crucial to separate them analytically. Organized crime for example is aiming at the accumulation of wealth, whereas terrorist networks are mainly focussing on political or ideological goals and are using criminal activities primarily to finance their structures and attacks.
Organized crime and terrorist networks represent a serious threat for the European Union as well as on a global level. However, as research has shown, over 90 per cent of terrorist attacks are taking place in non-European countries. Nevertheless, as a conclusion several policy and institutional obstacles for tackling organized crime and terrorist networks are apparent. First, there is a significant Lack of Cooperation between the EU-member states regarding the implementation of supra-national policies. Second, there is a Lack of Skilled Technical Staff, Expertise and Tools. Only few countries have the technologies and the experts for tackling cybercrime. Third, as recent terrorist attacks in Europe showed there is a Lack of Communication between national authorities, which interferes with the aim of tracking criminals or preventing attacks.