What changed between the resolution motion and the adopted text

Removed:B100058/2026

Added:P10_TA(2026)0007

Changed:European Parliament resolution on the murderMurder of Mehdi Kessaci – urgent need for ambitious European action against drug trafficking

Removed:(2025/3020(RSP))

Added:PE782.012

Added:European Parliament resolution of 20 January 2026 on the murder of Mehdi Kessaci: urgent need for ambitious European action against drug trafficking (2025/3020(RSP))

The European Parliament,

Removed:– having regard to the murder of Mehdi Kessaci on 13 November 2025,

Added:– having regard to the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), in particular their provisions on the area of freedom, security and justice,

Changed:– having regard to the Commission’sCharter statementof Fundamental Rights of 15the DecemberEuropean 2025Union, onin theparticular murderits ofarticles Mehdion Kessacihuman anddignity, the urgentright needto forlife, ambitiousfreedom actionof atexpression, Europeanvictims’ levelrights againstand drugthe trafficking,protection of personal data,

Added:– having regard to EU drugs strategies, and to the latest version published together with the EU action plan against drug trafficking 2026-2030,

Added:– having regard to the work of the Council’s Horizontal Working Party on Drugs (HDG), which was established in 1997 and is responsible for coordinating EU action on drugs,

Added:– having regard to the reports and analyses of the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), in particular the European Drug Report 2025,

Added:– having regard to the launch of the European Coalition against Drugs, which brings together more than 40 countries and aims to strengthen international cooperation against drug trafficking;

Added:– having regard to the work of the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe on drug policies and prevention,

Added:– having regard to the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 and the work of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),

Added:– having regard to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, signed in Palermo in 2000, and the protocols thereto, and to the United Nations Convention against Corruption,

Added:– having regard to the various provisions adopted by European and international bodies on preventing and combating money laundering and the financing of organised crime,

Added:– having regard to Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime,

Added:– having regard to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20 November 1989,

Added:– having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 11 June 2013 on organised crime, corruption and money laundering,

Added:– having regard to the commitment by European authorities to combating drug trafficking, in particular the EUDA, Europol and Eurojust,

Added:– having regard to the 2024 EU legislative package on tackling money laundering and the financing of terrorism, including in particular Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, Directive (EU) 2024/1640 and the establishment of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA),

Added:– having regard to Directive (EU) 2024/1712 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2024 amending Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims,

Added:– having regard to the work of the Civil Society Forum on Drugs and its youth wing,

Added:– having regard to the particularly critical situation in the outermost regions,

Added:– having regard to the book published by anti-drug activist Amine Kessaci, ‘Marseille, essuie tes larmes’, and to his speeches calling for the public to rise up and take a stand against drug trafficking,

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

Change 1

Removed:A. whereas Mehdi Kessaci was murdered in a mafia-style killing intended to intimidate his brother Amine and his family, who are involved in the fight against the scourge of drug trafficking, particularly in Marseille;

Added:A. whereas 20-year-old Mehdi Kessaci, a French national unknown to the police other than for having applied to become a police officer, was murdered in broad daylight on a Marseille street on 13 November 2025 in the context of drug-related violence, which illustrates the increasing brutality of criminal networks and the direct consequences this violence is having for families and local communities;

Removed:B. whereas this murder is part of the overall context of daily violence linked to drug trafficking, which is blighting entire neighbourhoods in our cities, and more recently rural areas;

Added:B. whereas Mehdi Kessaci was the brother of Amine Kessaci, an anti-drug activist, author and recognised figure in civic mobilisation against organised crime; whereas he was undoubtedly murdered because of this family link; whereas this murder constitutes a direct attack on freedom of expression, and is suspected of being an intimidation tactic reminiscent of the practices of organised mafia networks; whereas this crime has caused a national outcry, bringing together 10 000 people across the country in support of Amine Kessaci and his family, as well as in defence of democracy, freedom of expression and the rule of law against drug trafficking;

Removed:C. whereas there are countless victims of this lucrative trade; whereas these are both direct victims of the internal violence inherent in drug trafficking networks and indirect victims, who are collateral victims of drug-related score-settling, such as Socayna, a 24-year-old woman who died on 13 September 2023 after being hit by a stray bullet while in her bedroom in Marseille, and Fayed, aged 10, fatally shot in the head on 21 August 2023 while in his uncle’s car in Nîmes;

Added:C. whereas this murder is part of a pattern of drug-related violence in Marseille, which saw 24 people murdered in 2024 and 49 victims in 2023, affecting an increasing number of minors and innocent people; whereas this scourge affects numerous European cities and threatens social cohesion, the health and safety of citizens and the rule of law; whereas the situation is particularly critical in the outermost regions, with almost 90 killings related to drug trafficking in Guadeloupe and Martinique in 2025 alone;

Removed:D. whereas, given the level and scale of this violence, it is necessary to address narco-terrorism and to adapt political will and resources to this scale;

Added:D. whereas drug trafficking is one of the most serious threats to the internal security of the European Union, fuelling organised crime, violence and corruption, and whereas, according to Europol, almost 50 % of Europe’s most dangerous criminal networks are involved in drug trafficking, more than a third of them exclusively;

Removed:E. whereas the rapid adaptation of drug trafficking requires flexible and operational responses on the ground;

Added:E. whereas violence linked to drug trafficking in Europe has intensified in recent years, with organised crime groups increasingly using firearms, and whereas on average 28 % of firearms seizures in Europe are linked to drug trafficking, which illustrates the direct link between drug trafficking and serious threats to public safety;

Removed:F. whereas this situation is the result of too long a period of political and societal complacency, and even benevolence, towards drug addiction;

Added:F. whereas the production, trafficking and use of drugs are rising rapidly and reaching unprecedented levels in the EU; whereas, according to the EUDA, 752 tonnes of cannabis and 419 tonnes of cocaine were seized in the EU in 2023, and whereas 2.7 million young adults aged 15-34 reported having used them in the past year; whereas almost 500 synthetic drug laboratories are dismantled every year in the EU, and whereas there were almost 7 500 drug-related deaths in 2023; whereas these developments reflect a widespread phenomenon affecting all territories, generations and social categories;

Removed:G. whereas the fight against this scourge cannot, as a matter of principle, be based on removing responsibility from consumers;

Added:G. whereas European ports are major strategic entry points for illicit drugs, with around 70 % of customs seizures of drugs taking place in port infrastructure, and whereas criminal networks exploit the logistical and human vulnerabilities of these platforms;

Removed:H. whereas the EU has developed, within the framework of its justice and home affairs policies, legal, operational and technical tools enabling Member States to cooperate with each other, with the support of specialised agencies, both within the European area of freedom, security and justice and at its external borders;

Added:H. whereas professionals working in the fisheries and ports sectors, such as fishers and dockers, are targeted by drug trafficking networks, which exploit the nature of their activities to bring drugs into the European Union;

Removed:I. whereas these tools can be used to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking at EU level and at international level alongside non-EU countries;

Added:I. whereas the massive increase in drug use has a direct impact on drug trafficking, generating huge profits for traffickers, who are acquiring a financial strength that could put our democracy in danger; whereas the French Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Funding has warned about the influence of drug trafficking networks on the upcoming local elections;

Removed:J. whereas this fight must also involve the countries of origin of drugs, which cannot be regarded as reliable partners of the EU unless they cooperate genuinely and effectively in this area;

Added:J. whereas drug trafficking is one of organised crime’s most lucrative activities, accounting for about one fifth of the proceeds of crime worldwide, and whereas the European Union is facing an unprecedented increase in the availability of illicit drugs, particularly cocaine from South America;

Removed:1. Condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the cowardly murder of Mehdi Kessaci and offers its full support to his family in this ordeal and, more broadly, in their heroic struggle;

Added:K. whereas drug trafficking networks may seek to exert pressure or undue influence on locally elected representatives and voters, in particular at municipal level, thereby undermining the integrity of democratic processes;

Removed:General framework for combating drug trafficking

Added:L. whereas the financial strength acquired by drug traffickers is a threat to democracy, through money laundering, corruption, infiltration of the legal economy and the capacity it gives criminal networks to obtain and extend their territorial reach, including within the European Union;

Removed:2. Considers that we must speak of a real war against drug trafficking and equip ourselves with all the legal, political, financial and material means to wage it;

Added:M. whereas the fight against money laundering, tax havens and infiltration of the legal economy by criminal organisations is therefore a key lever for permanently weakening drug trafficking networks;

Removed:3. Stresses that police forces across all continents have established the link between migrant smuggling and drug trafficking networks, with drug transport logistics also being used to transport illegal immigrants; notes that more than 90 % of migrants entering the EU illegally are believed to use these criminal networks;

Added:N. whereas the European Democracy Shield emphasises that organised crime and corruption pose a direct threat to the rule of law and our democratic institutions;

Removed:4. Recalls that illegal migrants, particularly minors, are an ideal source of ‘labour’ for traffickers, as they are more discreet, mobile, dependent and therefore easier to exploit than others;

Added:O. whereas digital tools and social media are increasingly being used for recruiting, coordinating and committing acts of violence, and aimed in particular at minors, which calls for a coordinated European response that respects fundamental rights;

Removed:5. Considers that the EU should treat identified drug cartels as terrorist organisations, thereby facilitating the intelligence work of the national authorities in relation to them;

Added:P. whereas criminal organisations and their practices are evolving, including through the digitalisation of their strategies, and whereas therefore the investigative, judicial and social structures in the European Union’s response to this scourge also need to evolve;