What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Removed:Recital 31: (31) Member States should set up asset management offices with the purpose of establishing specialised authorities tasked with the management of frozen and confiscated property in order to effectively manage the property frozen before confiscation and preserve its value, pending a final decision on the confiscation. Without prejudice to the Member States’ internal administrative structures, asset management offices should either be the sole authority managing frozen or confiscated property, or should provide support to decentralised actors according to national management set-ups, and support relevant authorities with pre-seizure planning. For the sake of efficiency, Member States should consider setting up asset recovery and asset management offices within a single legal and organisational structure.

Added:Recital 28 d (new): (28d) Where the confiscated assets originated in a third country, Member States should return them to the third country based on a return agreement. Such return agreements should be made publicly available. Such return agreements could set out, inter alia, how the funds would be reinvested, for example compensating victims’ losses or contributing to projects with a high social impact that have been selected based on the needs of the affected populations and following a transparent procedure.

Removed:Recital 34: (34) Freezing, confiscation, and interlocutory sales orders should be communicated to the affected person without delay. The purpose of communicating those orders is, inter alia, to allow the affected person to challenge them before a court. Therefore, such communications should, as a general rule, indicate the reason or reasons for the order concerned. The affected party should have the effective possibility to challenge the freezing, confiscation, and interlocutory sales orders. In the case of confiscation orders where all elements of the criminal offence are present but a criminal conviction is impossible, the defendant should have a possibility to be heard before the adoption of the order. The same possibility should be provided for the owner affected by an order to sell the property before confiscation.

Added:Recital 28 e (new): (28e) The Commission and the Member States should facilitate coordination between competent authorities and with third countries where instrumentalities, proceeds and property have been confiscated following the violation of Union restrictive measures.

Removed:Recital 39: (39) An effective recovery system requires concerted efforts of a wide range of authorities, from law enforcement, including customs authorities, tax authorities and tax recovery authorities to the extent that they are competent for asset recovery, asset recovery offices, judicial authorities and asset management authorities, including asset management offices. In order to ensure coordinated action by all competent authorities, it is necessary to establish a more strategic approach to asset recovery and promote a greater cooperation between the relevant authorities, and to obtain a clear overview of the results of asset recovery. For this purpose, Member States should adopt and regularly review a national strategy on asset recovery to guide actions in relation to financial investigations, freezing and confiscation, management as well as final disposal of the relevant instrumentalities, proceeds, or property. National strategies should include a description of the roles and responsibilities of all the competent authorities involved in asset recovery, confiscation and management and the particular mechanisms of cooperation among them. Furthermore, Member States should provide competent authorities with the necessary resources and legal powers to be able to fulfil their tasks effectively. Competent authorities should be understood as the authorities entrusted with the carrying out of the tasks as outlined under this Directive and according to national set-ups.

Added:Recital 28 f (new): (28f) In order to facilitate the compensation, restitution and reparations towards States affected by international crimes, the Commission should issue guidelines on the use of the confiscated instrumentalities, proceeds and property for compensation, restitution and reparations towards States, insofar as the interests at stake are directly or indirectly affected by the criminal activities covered by this Directive. Where the assets are confiscated in connection with the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine or associated crimes, without prejudice to restitution to and compensation of the victims or the public concerned by the criminal offence, the confiscated assets or the net proceeds resulting from the liquidation of such assets should be assigned to contributions towards the reconstruction efforts of Ukraine.

Removed:Recital 41: (41) To ensure consistent approaches among Member States in the collection of statistics, Member States should include, for all criminal offences, at least the number of freezing orders executed, the number of confiscation orders executed, the value of property frozen, the value of property recovered, the number of requests for freezing orders to be executed in another Member State, the number of requests for confiscation orders to be executed in another Member State, the value of the property recovered following execution in another Member State, the value of the property destined to be reused for law enforcement, prevention or social purposes, the number of cases in which confiscation was ordered in correlation with the number of convictions for the criminal offences covered by this Directive, the number of requests for freezing and confiscation orders rejected by the courts, the type of use to which the confiscated property has been put and the length of the procedures for allocating the confiscated property. The power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this directive by providing more detailed rules on the information to be collected, the methodology for the collection and transmission of the data to the Commission.

Added:Recital 29: (29) To ensure that property which is or may become subject to a freezing or confiscation order maintains its economic value Member States should put in place effective management measures. Such measures should include a systematic assessment of how to best preserve and optimise the value of property before the adoption of freezing measures, also known as pre-seizure planning. Pre-seizure planning should be used in all cases unless the urgency of the matter would require limiting or foregoing that planning.

Removed:Recital 43 a (new): (43a) In order to advise the Commission on the implementation of the measures provided for in this Directive, to exchange information on the efficiency and effectiveness of the cooperation with third countries and to analyse the national strategies on asset recovery adopted by Member States to identify best practices, a platform on asset recovery and confiscation (the ‘platform’) should be established under the aegis of the Commission. The platform should be composed of representatives from asset recovery offices and asset management offices and should be chaired by a representative of the Commission. It should be possible to invite representatives from Europol, Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutors Office to participate to the meetings of the platform.

Added:Recital 34: (34) Freezing, confiscation, and interlocutory sales orders should, in principle, be communicated to the affected person without delay, except in circumstances wherein such communication can put at risk the confidentiality or integrity of a criminal investigation. The purpose of communicating those orders is, inter alia, to allow the affected person to challenge them before a court. Therefore, such communications should, as a general rule, indicate the reason or reasons for the order concerned. The affected party should have the effective possibility to challenge the freezing, confiscation, and interlocutory sales orders. In the case of confiscation orders where all elements of the criminal offence are present but a criminal conviction is impossible, the defendant should have a possibility to be heard, before the adoption of the order. The same possibility should be provided for the owner affected by an order to sell the property before confiscation.

Removed:Recital 45: (45) Asset recovery offices should also closely cooperate with EU bodies and agencies, including Europol and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, in accordance with their respective mandates, insofar as it is necessary to trace and identify property within the cross-border investigations supported by Europol or within the investigations undertaken by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. Asset recovery offices should also cooperate with Europol in accordance with its mandate, insofar as it is necessary to trace and identify property to prevent, detect or investigate criminal offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures.

Added:Recital 39: (39) An effective asset tracing and recovery system as well as maintaining the value of frozen assets requires concerted efforts of a wide range of authorities, from law enforcement, including customs authorities, tax authorities and tax recovery authorities to the extent that they are competent for asset recovery, asset recovery offices, judicial authorities and asset management authorities, including asset management offices. In order to ensure coordinated action by all competent authorities, it is necessary to establish a more strategic approach to asset recovery and promote a greater cooperation between the relevant authorities, and to obtain a clear overview of the results of asset recovery. For this purpose, Member States should adopt and regularly review a national strategy on asset recovery to guide actions in relation to financial investigations, freezing and confiscation, management as well as final disposal of the relevant instrumentalities, proceeds, or property. National strategies should include a description of the roles and responsibilities of all the competent authorities involved in asset recovery, confiscation and management and the particular mechanisms of cooperation among them. Furthermore, Member States should provide competent authorities with the necessary resources and legal powers to be able to fulfil their tasks effectively. Competent authorities should be understood as the authorities entrusted with the carrying out of the tasks as outlined under …

Removed:Recital 45 a (new): (45a) In accordance with its mandate, Eurojust should support national authorities in all stages of the asset recovery process from the tracing and identification, freezing, confiscation and asset management of assets to the disposal of assets. Asset recovery offices and asset management offices should closely cooperate with Eurojust for the purpose of facilitating the entire asset recovery process. Such cooperation encompasses the tracing and identification of instrumentalities, proceeds, or property that may become or is the object of a freezing or confiscation order made by a competent authority in the course of proceedings in criminal matters and subsequent disposal, including the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures.

Added:Recital 39 a (new): (39a) It is important that minimum standards for the functioning of asset recovery offices and asset management offices are ensured throughout the Union. For this reason, Member States should be required to regularly report to the Commission on the financial, human and technical resources allocated to those offices.

Added:Recital 41: (41) To ensure consistent approaches among Member States in the collection of statistics . Member States should include, for all criminal offences, at least the number of asset tracing investigations launched, the number of assets traced, the number of freezing orders initiatied and executed, the number of confiscation orders initiated and executed, the number of confiscation orders executed broken down by type of confiscation, the value of property frozen, for the confiscation orders included in a respective annual report, the value of confiscated property compared to the value at the time of freezing the number of requests for freezing orders to be executed in another Member State, the number of requests for confiscation orders to be executed in another Member State, the value of the property recovered following execution in another Member State, the value of the property destined to be reused for law enforcement, prevention or social purposes, the manner in which the confiscated property has been used and, for the confiscation orders included in a respective annual report, the length of the procedure from freezing to final disposal. The power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the TFEU should be delegated to the Commission to supplement this Directive by providing more detailed rules on the information to be collected, the methodology for the collection and transmission of the data to the Commission.

Added:Recital 43 a (new): (43a) In order to support the Commission in relation to the implementation of this Directive and facilitate the exchange of best practices and operational cooperation relating to this Directive, a network on asset recovery and confiscation should be established under the political guidance of the Commission. The network should be composed of representatives from asset recovery offices and asset management offices and should be co-chaired by a representative of the Commission and, in matters of operational cooperation, by a representative of Europol. It should invite representatives from Europol, Eurojust, the European Public Prosecutors Office, and where appropriate, the Anti-Money Laundering Authority to participate to the meetings of the network.

Added:Recital 45: (45) Asset recovery offices should also closely cooperate with Union bodies and agencies, including Europol and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, in accordance with their respective mandates, insofar as it is necessary to trace and identify property within the cross-border investigations supported by Europol or within the investigations undertaken by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. For the purposes of this Directive, when the notion of competent authorities refers to investigating and prosecuting authorities, it should be interpreted as including the central and decentralised levels of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) with regard to the Member States that participate in the enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the EPPO. Asset recovery offices should therefore fulfil the obligations under Council Regulation (EU) 2017/193928a, including the obligation to report to the EPPO under Article 24 of that Regulation, the undertaking of measures if instructed as a competent authority under Article 28(1) of that Regulation, and access to information under Article 43(1) of that Regulation. In light of their duties established in Article 105 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 the Member States who are not participating in the enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the EPPO should ensure that their asset recovery offices are able cooperate with the EPPO in the same manner as an asset recovery office of any other participating Member State in so far as i…

Added:Recital 45 a (new): (45a) In accordance with its mandate, Eurojust should support national authorities in all stages of the asset recovery process from the tracing and identification, freezing, confiscation and asset management of assets to the disposal of assets. Asset recovery offices and asset management offices should closely cooperate with Eurojust for the purpose of facilitating the entire asset recovery process. Such cooperation encompasses the tracing and identification of instrumentalities, proceeds, or property that can become or is the object of a freezing or confiscation order made by a competent authority in the course of proceedings in criminal matters and subsequent disposal, including the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures.

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point j g (new): (jg) rape;

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point j h (new): (jh) swindling;

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point j i (new): (ji) racism and xenophobia;

Added:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 2: (2) ‘property’ means property of any description, whether corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, including crypto-assets and legal documents or instruments in any form, evidencing title or interest in such property;

Added:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 9 a (new): (9a) ‘public concerned’ means the persons affected or likely to be affected by the criminal offences within the scope of this Directive; for the purposes of this definition, persons having a sufficient interest or maintaining the impairment of a right or meeting any proportionate requirements under national law shall be deemed to have an interest;

Added:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 10 a (new): (10a) ‘affected person’ means: / (a) a natural or legal person against whom a freezing or confiscation order is issued; / (b) a natural or legal person that owns property that is the object of a freezing or confiscation order; or / (c) a third party whose rights in relation to property that is the object of a freezing order or a confiscation order are directly prejudiced by that order;

Added:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 10 b (new): (10b) ‘party closely related to suspected, accused or convicted person’ means: / (a) the spouse or partner of the suspected, accused or convicted person; / (b) ascendants, descendants and siblings of the suspected, accused, or convicted person or of the spouse or partner of that person; / (c) persons living in the household of the suspected, accused or convicted person; / (d) persons who are working for the suspected, accused or convicted person under a contract of employment with access to non-public information on the affairs of the suspected, accused or convicted person or otherwise performing tasks through which they have access to non-public information on the affairs of the suspected, accused or convicted person; / (e) legal entities in which the suspected, accused or convicted person or one of the persons referred to in points (a) to (d) of this point is a member of the administrative, management or supervisory bodies or performs duties which provide for access to non-public information on the affairs of the suspected, accused or convicted person.

Removed:Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) immediate and direct access to: / (i) fiscal data, including data held by tax and revenue authorities; / (ii) national real estate registers or electronic data retrieval systems and land and cadastral registers; / (iii) national citizenship and population registers of natural persons; / (iv) national motor vehicle, aircraft and watercraft registers; / (v) commercial databases, including business and company registers; / (vi) national beneficial ownership registers; / (vii) data available through the interconnection of beneficial ownership registers in accordance with [Article 12 of Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mechanisms to be put in place by the Member States for the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing and repealing Directive (EU) 2015/849 COM/2021/423]; / (viii) national social security registers; and / (ix) bank account registers, including information on wire-transfers.

Added:Article 5 – paragraph 2 – point c: (c) cooperate and exchange information with other Member States asset recovery offices and the EPPO in the tracing and identification of instrumentalities and proceeds, or property which may become or is the object of a freezing or confiscation order;

Removed:Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point b: (b) direct or indirect access to: / (i) information on mortgages and loans; / (ii) information contained in the national currency and currency exchange databases; / (iii) information on securities; / (iv) customs data, including cross-border physical transfers of cash; / (v) information held by commercial courts; / (vi) information on annual financial statements by companies; / (vii) relevant information which is held by authorities competent for preventing, detecting, investigating or prosecuting criminal offences.

Added:Article 5 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. In order to perform the tasks pursuant to paragraph 2, point (b), asset recovery offices shall be entitled to request the relevant competent authorities to take the necessary measures for the tracing and identification of instrumentalities, proceeds, or property;

Removed:Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point c: deleted

Added:Article 5 – paragraph 3: 3. Asset recovery offices shall be empowered to trace and identify property of persons and entities subject to Union restrictive measures where necessary to prevent, detect or investigate criminal offences. To that effect, they shall cooperate with asset recovery offices and other relevant competent authorities in other Member States and exchange relevant information;

Removed:Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point d: deleted

Added:Article 6 – paragraph 1: 1. For the purposes of performing the tasks referred to in Article 5, Member States shall ensure that asset recovery offices have appropriate access to any information to the extent that information is necessary for the tracing and identification of proceeds, instrumentalities, proceeds and property. That access shall include : / (1a) direct and immediate access to: / (i) fiscal data, including data held by tax and revenue authorities; / (ii) national real estate registers or electronic data retrieval systems and land and cadastral registers; / (iii) national citizenship and population registers of natural persons; / (iv) national motor vehicles, aircraft and watercraft registers; / (v) commercial databases, including business and company registers; / (vi) national beneficial ownership registers including registers of beneficial owners of trusts and similar legal arrangments; / (vii) data available through the interconnection of beneficial ownership registers in accordance with [Article 12 of Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mechanisms to be put in place by the Member States for the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing and repealing Directive (EU) 2015/849 COM/2021/423]; / (viii) national social security registers; / (ix) bank account registers, including information on wire-transfers and accounts balances; / (1b) direct or indirect access to: / (i) information on…

Removed:Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point e: deleted

Added:Article 6 – paragraph 2: 2. Where the information referred to in paragraph 1 is not stored in databases or registers, Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that asset recovery offices can swiftly obtain that information by other means in a streamlined and harmonized manner. Where an asset recovery office requests access to information which is not directly available to it, the requested authority shall respond to the request in a timely manner;

Removed:Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point f: deleted

Added:Article 6 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. The Commission may adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 30 laying down specifications for a standardized template for requests for information as referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), of this Article.

Removed:Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point g: deleted

Added:Article 6 – paragraph 3: 3. The direct and immediate and indirect access to the information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be without prejudice to the procedural safeguards established under national law including where necessary the requirement to obtain a court order, if required by the relevant national law and the guarantees provided under the Union data protection acquis;

Removed:Article 13 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1: Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable the confiscation of proceeds, or other property up to the value corresponding to those proceeds, which, directly or indirectly, were transferred by a suspected or accused person to third parties, or which were acquired by third parties from a suspected or accused person. The confiscation of those proceeds or other property shall be enabled where based on concrete facts and circumstances a national court has established that those third parties knew or could be expected to have known that the purpose of the transfer or acquisition was to avoid confiscation or that the transferred property was directly or indirectly linked to criminal conduct. Such facts and circumstances may be that the transfer or acquisition was carried out free of charge or in exchange for an amount disproportionate to the market value.

Added:Article 9 – paragraph 2 – point g: (g) and/or the natural or legal persons presumed to be involved, such as names, addresses, dates and places of birth, nationality and place of residence, date of registration, shareholders, country of establishment, headquarters and subsidiaries;

Removed:Article 13 – paragraph 2: deleted

Added:Article 9 – paragraph 3: 3. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable that their asset recovery offices exchange information with asset recovery offices of other Member States, without a request to that effect, whenever they are aware of information on instrumentalities, proceeds, or property that they consider necessary for the performance of the tasks of the asset recovery offices of that other Member State pursuant to Article 5. When providing such information, asset recovery offices shall set out the reasons why the information exchanged is considered necessary.

Removed:Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point f: (f) the time limits prescribed by national law have expired, provided that such limits are not longer than 15 years.

Added:Article 9 – paragraph 4: 4. Member States shall ensure that the information provided by asset recovery offices pursuant to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 can be presented as evidence before a national court of a Member State, where the provision of that information as evidence is compatible with that Member State’s procedural rules on admissibility of evidence in criminal matters, and in compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and with the Member State’s obligations under Article 6 TEU;

Removed:Article 15 – paragraph 2: 2. Confiscation without a prior conviction shall be limited to criminal offences liable to give rise, directly or indirectly, to substantial economic benefit and only insofar as the national court is satisfied, based on available information, that all the elements of the offence are present and that the instrumentalities, proceeds or property to be confiscated are derived from or directly or indirectly linked to the criminal conduct in question.

Added:Article 9 – paragraph 5: 5. Information under this Article shall be exchanged through SIENA or, where necessary on exceptional basis, through other secure channels. Member States shall ensure that their asset recovery offices have direct access to SIENA

Removed:Article 16 – paragraph 1 – introductory part: 1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable the confiscation of property, where confiscation is not possible pursuant to Articles 12 to 15 and where the national court is satisfied that the frozen property is derived from a criminal offence which is liable to give rise, directly or indirectly, to a substantial economic benefit and which was committed in the framework of a criminal organisation. In order to determine whether the frozen property is derived from a criminal offence, Member States shall ensure that account is taken of all the circumstances of the case, including the specific facts and available evidence, such as the fact that the value of the property is substantially disproportionate to the lawful income of the owner of the property.

Added:Article 9 – paragraph 6 – point b a (new): (ba) not be in accordance with the fundamental principles of national law, with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, or with Member State’s obligations under Article 6 TEU.

Added:Article 9 – paragraph 7: 7. For refusals to give information, Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that reasons are given and that the requesting asset recovery office is consulted in advance. Refusals shall only affect the part of the requested information to which the reasons set out in paragraph 6 relate and shall, where applicable, leave the obligation to provide the other parts of the information in accordance with this Directive unaffected.

Added:Article 10 – paragraph 2: 2. Member States shall ensure that the receipt of requests for information pursuant to this Directive are immediately and systematically acknowledged. Where the information requested pursuant to paragraph 1, point (b) is not directly available or the request pursuant to paragraph 1, point (a) imposes a disproportionate burden, the asset recovery office receiving the request may postpone the provision of the information. In that case, the requested asset recovery office shall immediately inform the requesting asset recovery office of this postponement and shall provide the requested information as soon as possible, and in any event within three days of the initial deadline established pursuant to paragraph 1.

Added:Article 11 – paragraph 1: 1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable the freezing of property necessary to ensure a possible confiscation of that property under Article 12 to 16 and to ensure the right to restitution and compensation to victims according to the provisions of this Directive.

Added:Article 11 – paragraph 1 a (new): 1a. Freezing measures shall consist of freezing orders and immediate action in the form of temporary urgent freezing measures.

Added:Article 11 – paragraph 2: 2. Immediate action in the form of temporary urgent freezing measures shall be taken when necessary in order to preserve the property concerned.

Added:Article 11 – paragraph 3: 3. Without prejudice to the powers of other competent authorities, Member States shall enable asset recovery offices to take immediate action pursuant to paragraph 2 until a freezing order pursuant to paragraph 1 is issued. The validity of such temporary urgent freezing measures shall not exceed seven days.

Added:Article 11 – paragraph 4: 4. Property in the possession of a third party can be subject to freezing measures pursuant to paragraphs 1 to 3 where necessary to ensure a possible confiscation under Article 13.

Added:Article 11 – paragraph 5: 5. Member States shall ensure that the freezing measures pursuant to paragraphs 1 to 4 are issued by a competent authority and are adequately motivated. Where a freezing order under this Directive has been issued by a competent authority other than a judicial authority, Member States shall ensure that such an order is validated or annulled by a judicial authority without undue delay.

Added:Article 11 – paragraph 6: 6. A freezing order pursuant to paragraph 1 shall remain in force only for as long as it is necessary to preserve the property with a view to possible subsequent confiscation. Frozen property which is not subsequently confiscated, shall be returned without delay to the owner of the property or to the person from whom the property was seized. The conditions or procedural rules under which such property is returned shall be determined by national law.

Added:Article 12 – paragraph 2: 2. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable the confiscation of property the value of which corresponds to instrumentalities or proceeds stemming from a criminal offence following a final conviction, which may also result from proceedings in absentia. Such confiscation may either be subsidiary or alternative to confiscation pursuant to paragraph 1.

Added:Article 13 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1: Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable the confiscation of instrumentalities and proceeds, or other property up to the value correspondingto those instrumentalities and proceeds, which, directly or indirectly, were transferred by a suspected, accused or convicted person to third parties, or which were acquired by third parties from a suspected, accused or convicted person.

Added:Article 13 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2: The confiscation of those instrumentalities, proceeds or other property shall be enabled where a national court has established, based on the concrete facts and circumstances of the case, that the instrumentalities, proceeds or property to be confiscated are derived from or directly or indirectly linked to a criminal offence and that those third parties knew or could be expected to have known that the purpose of the transfer or acquisition was to avoid confiscation or that the transferred property was directly or indirectly linked to criminal offence in question. Such facts and circumstances may include that the transfer or acquisition was carried out free of charge or in exchange for an amount which is disproportionate to the market value of the property.

Added:Article 13 – paragraph 2: 2. Paragraph 1 shall not affect the rights of bona fide third parties. Where the affected party is closely related to the suspected, accused or convinced person, that affected party shall bear the burden of proof that the acquisition of the transferred property has taken place in bona fide and with due diligence. / Member States shall ensure that the affected person’s rights are respected including by granting access to a lawyer, by awarding access to the file and by ensuring the right to be heard on issues of law and fact.

Added:Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) illness of the suspected or accused person, where the inability to continue proceedings because of that illness results in the expiry of the time limits laid down in national law for criminal liability;

Added:Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point d: (d) immunity from prosecution of the suspected or accused person, as provided for under national or international law;

Added:Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point f: (f) the time limits prescribed by national law have expired, where such limits are not sufficiently long and do not exceed fifteen years to allow for the effective investigation and prosecution of the relevant criminal offences.

Added:Article 15 – paragraph 2: 2. Confiscation without a prior conviction shall be limited to criminal offences liable to give rise, directly or indirectly, to substantial economic benefit and only insofar as the national court is satisfied, based on available information, that all the elements of the offence are present and has established that the instrumentalities, proceeds or property to be confiscated are derived from or directly or indirectly linked to the criminal offence in question. The burden of proof shall lie with the prosecution.

Added:Article 15 – paragraph 3: 3. Before a confiscation order within the meaning of paragraphs 1 and 2 is issued by the court, Member States shall ensure that the affected person’s rights of defence are respected including by granting access to a lawyer and awarding access to the file and the right to be heard on issues of law and fact.

Added:Article 16 – paragraph 1: 1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable the confiscation of property frozen in the context of an investigation into criminal offences where confiscation is not possible pursuant to Articles 12 to 15 and where the national court is satisfied that the frozen property is derived from a criminal offence which is liable to give rise, directly or indirectly, to a substantial economic benefit and which was committed in the framework of a criminal organisation. / (deleted) / (deleted) / (deleted) / In order to determine whether the frozen property is derived from a criminal offence, the national court shall take account of all the circumstances of the case, including the specific facts and available evidence, such as the fact that the value of the property is substantially disproportionate to the lawful income of the owner of the property which cannot be justified on the basis of lawful activities. The burden of proof shall lie with the prosecution.

Added:Article 16 – paragraph 2: deleted

Added:Article 16 – paragraph 4: 4. Before a confiscation order within the meaning of paragraphs 1 and 2 is issued by the court, Member States shall ensure that the affected person’s rights of defence are respected including by granting access to a lawyer awarding access to the file and the right to be heard on issues of law and fact.

Added:Article 17 – paragraph 1: 1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable the tracing and identification of property to be frozen and confiscated even after a final conviction for a criminal offence, or following proceedings in application of Articles 15 and 16. Member States shall ensure that such investigations are also possible with a view to obtaining compensation for the victims.

Added:Article 19 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. Member States may require the costs for the management of frozen property to be charged, at least partially, to the beneficial owner

Removed:Article 23 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 2: In the case of confiscation orders pursuant to Article 13, such circumstance shall include facts and circumstances on which the finding was based that the third party knew or could be expected to have known that the purpose of the transfer or acquisition was to avoid confiscation or that the transferred property was directly or indirectly linked to criminal conduct on the basis of concrete facts and circumstances. Such facts and circumstances may include the fact that the transfer or acquisition was carried out free of charge or in exchange for an amount disproportionate to the market value.

Added:Article 20 – paragraph 2: 2. Member States shall adopt the necessary measures to ensure that the interests of the owner of the property are taken into account when issuing an interlocutory sale order, including whether the property to be sold is easily replaceable. With the exception of cases of absconding and in duly justified circumstances, Member States shall ensure that the owner of the property that may be subject to an interlocutory sale is notified and is given the opportunity to be heard before the sale. The owner shall be given the possibility to request the sale of the property.

Added:Article 20 – paragraph 3: 3. Earnings from interlocutory sales shall be secured until a judicial decision on confiscation is reached. Member States shall take appropriate measures to protect third party buyers of property sold from retaliatory measures, to ensure that the property sold is not returned to persons convicted of the criminal offences referred to in Article 2.

Added:Article 20 – paragraph 4: deleted

Added:Article 21 – paragraph 2 – point c: (c) to cooperate with other competent authorities responsible for the tracing and identification, freezing and confiscation of property, pursuant to this Directive, including Union agencies and bodies referred to in Article 28, in accordance with their areas of competence

Added:Article 22 – paragraph 1: Member States shall ensure that the freezing orders pursuant to Article 11, confiscation orders pursuant to Articles 12 to 16, and orders to sell the property pursuant to Article 20 are communicated to the affected person setting out the reasons for the measure as well as the rights and legal remedies available to that affected person pursuant to Article 23. Member States may put in place rules allowing for the temporary postponement of the obligation to inform the affected persons where necessary and proportionate for the protection of ongoing criminal investigations.

Added:Article 23 – paragraph 2: 2. Member States shall provide for the effective possibility for the person whose property is affected to challenge the freezing order pursuant to article 11 before a court, in accordance with procedures provided for in national law. Where the freezing order has been taken by a competent authority other than a judicial authority, national law shall provide that such an order is first to be submitted for validation or review, within a reasonable delay, to a judicial authority before it can be challenged before a court.

Added:Article 23 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 2: In the case of confiscation orders pursuant to Article 13, such circumstance shall include facts and circumstances on which the finding was based that the third party knew or could be expected to have known that the purpose of the transfer or acquisition was to avoid confiscation or that the transferred property was directly or indirectly linked to criminal conduct on the basis of concrete facts and circumstances, such as the fact that the transfer or acquisition was carried out free of charge or in exchange for an amount disproportionate to the market value.

Removed:Article 24 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point b: (b) a governance framework to achieve the strategic objectives and priorities, including effective cooperation between asset recovery offices and financial intelligence units;

Added:Article 24 – paragraph 2 – point a: (a) strategic objectives, priorities and measures for the purposes of enhancing efforts by all competent national authorities involved in the recovery and management of property as set out in this Directive;

Removed:Article 24 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point d: (d) appropriate financial resources, appropriate training and appropriate legal capabilities made available to competent authorities;

Added:Article 24 – paragraph 2 – point b: (b) a governance framework to achieve the strategic objectives and priorities, including an effective cooperation framework between asset recovery offices and asset management offices and a further description of the roles and responsibilities of all the competent authorities and the cooperation between asset recovery offices and financial intelligence units;

Added:Article 25 – paragraph 1: Member States shall ensure that asset recovery offices and asset management offices performing tasks pursuant to this Directive, have appropriately qualified and appropriate financial, technical and technological resources necessary for the effective performance of their functions related to the implementation of this Directive. Member States shall ensure that specialised training and exchanges of best practices is provided to the staff involved in asset identification, tracing and recovery and confiscation at regular intervals. In addition to their obligations under Article 24(2), point (c), Member States shall update the Commission annually on the resources allocated to asset recovery offices and asset management offices.

Added:Article 26 – paragraph 1: 1. For the purpose of managing frozen and confiscated property, Member States shall put in place centralised registries containing information related to the freezing, confiscation and management of instrumentalities and proceeds, or property which may become or is the object of a freezing or confiscation order. Member State shall ensure that the information entered into the registry is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

Removed:Article 27 a (new): Article 27a (new) / Platform on asset recovery and confiscation / A platform on asset recovery and confiscation (the ‘platform’) shall be established under the aegis of the Commission. The platform shall be composed of representatives from asset recovery offices and asset management offices and shall be chaired by a representative of the Commission. The platform shall be convened at regular intervals. / The platform shall: / (a) advise the Commission on the implementation of the measures provided for in this Directive; / (b) exchange information on the efficiency and effectiveness of the cooperation with third countries; / (c) analyse the national strategies on asset recovery adopted by Member States pursuant to Article 24 in order to identify best practices. / Representatives from Europol, Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutors Office may be invited to participate in the meetings of the platform.

Added:Article 27 – paragraph 2: 2. Member States shall ensure that the statistics referred to in paragraph 1 are collected on a calendar basis and transmitted to the Commission on an annual basis, by [1 September] of the following year. The statistics collected shall include at least the following:

Added:Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point a (new): (a) the number of asset tracing investigations launched, and the number of asset traced;

Removed:Article 28 – paragraph 2: 2. Asset recovery offices shall cooperate with Europol, for the purposes of facilitating the identification of instrumentalities and proceeds, or property that may become or is the object of a freezing or confiscation order made by a competent authority in the course of proceedings in criminal matters, and where necessary to prevent, detect or investigate criminal offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures.

Added:Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point b (new): (b) the number of freezing orders initiated and number of freezing orders executed;

Removed:Article 28 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. Asset recovery offices and asset management offices shall closely cooperate with Eurojust for the purpose of facilitating the asset recovery process in accordance with Eurojust’s mandate, including, but not limited t,o the tracing and identification of instrumentalities and proceeds, or property that may become or is the object of a freezing or confiscation order made by a competent authority in the course of proceedings in criminal matters and subsequent disposal, including in the course of the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures.

Added:Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point c (new): (c) the number of confiscation orders executed broken down by type of confiscation referred to in Articles 12 to 16;

Removed:Article 33 – paragraph 1: 1. The Commission shall, by [date of entry into force + 3 years], submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council, assessing the implementation of this Directive. The report shall include a detailed assessment of the possibility and benefits of interconnecting the centralised registries referred to in Article 26 through a single access point in order to allow asset recovery offices to directly and immediately search the data contained therein, subject to relevant safeguards.

Added:Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point d (new): (d) the value of property frozen;

Added:Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point e (new): (e) for the confiscation orders included in a respective annual report, the value of confiscated property compared to the value of that property at the time of freezing;

Added:Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point f (new): (f) the number of requests for freezing orders to be executed in another Member State;

Added:Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point g (new): (g) the number of requests for confiscation orders to be executed in another Member State;

Added:Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point h (new): (h) the value of the property recovered following execution of a confiscation order in another Member State;

Added:Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point i (new): (i) the value of the property destined to be reused for law enforcement, prevention or social purposes as referred to in Article 18a;

Added:Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point j (new): (j) the manner in which the confiscated property has been used ; and

Added:Article 27 – paragraph 2 – point k (new): (k) for the confiscation orders included in a respective annual report, the length of the procedure from freezing to final disposal.

Added:Article 27 a (new): Article 27a / Cooperation network on asset recovery and confiscation / 1. A cooperation network on asset recovery and confiscation (the ‘network’) shall be established to support the Commission and to facilitate the exchange of best practices, and operational cooperation in relation to the implementation of this Directive. The network shall be composed of representatives from asset recovery offices and asset management offices and shall be co-chaired by the Commission and, where appropriate, by Europol. The network shall be convened at regular intervals. / The network shall: / (a) advise the Commission in relation to the implementation of the measures provided for in this Directive; / (b) analyse the national strategies on asset recovery adopted by Member States pursuant to Article 24 in order to identify best practices; / (c) share best practices to improve cooperation with third countries; / (d) facilitate operational cooperation among relevant national authories and Europol. / 2. Representatives from Europol, Eurojust, from the European Public Prosecutors Office and, where appropriate, from the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) may be invited to participate in the meetings of the network.

Added:Article 28 – title: Cooperation with Union bodies and agencies

Added:Article 28 – paragraph 1: 1. Asset recovery offices of Member States shall, within their respective competences and in accordance with the applicable legal framework, closely cooperate with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for the purposes of facilitating the identification of instrumentalities and proceeds, or property that may become or is the object of a freezing or confiscation order in proceedings in criminal matters concerning criminal offences falling within the competence of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office exercises its competence. For the purposes of this Directive, when the notion of competent authorities refers to investigating and prosecuting authorities, it shall be interpreted as including the central and decentralised levels of the EPPO with regard to the Member States that participate in the enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the EPPO. Asset recovery offices shall fulfil the obligations under Regulation (EU) 2017/1939, including the obligation to report to the EPPO under Article 24 of that Regulation, the undertaking of measures if instructed as a competent authority under Article 28(1) of that Regulation, and access to information under Article 43(1) of that Regulation.

Added:Article 28 – paragraph 2: 2. Asset recovery offices shall cooperate with Europol for the purposes of facilitating the identification of instrumentalities and proceeds, or property that may become or is the object of a freezing or confiscation order made by a competent authority in the course of proceedings in criminal matters, and where necessary to prevent, detect or investigate criminal offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures.

Added:Article 28 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. Asset recovery offices and asset management offices shall closely cooperate with Eurojust for the purpose of facilitating the asset recovery process in accordance with Eurojust’s mandate, including, but not limited to the tracing and identification of instrumentalities and proceeds, or property that may become or is the object of a freezing or confiscation order made by a competent authority in the course of proceedings in criminal matters and subsequent disposal, including in the course of the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences related to the violation of Union restrictive measures.

Added:Article 33 – paragraph 1: 1. The Commission shall, by [date of entry into force + three years], submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council, assessing the implementation of this Directive. That report shall include a detailed assessment of the possibility and benefits of interconnecting the centralised registries referred to in Article 26 through a single access point in order to allow asset recovery offices to directly and immediately search the data contained therein, subject to relevant safeguards.

Added:Article 33 – paragraph 2: 2. The Commission shall, by [date of entry into force + four years], submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council evaluating this Directive. The Commission shall take into account the information provided by Member States and any other relevant information related to the transposition and implementation of this Directive. On the basis of this evaluation, the Commission shall decide on appropriate follow-up actions, including, if necessary, a legislative proposal.

Added:24.3.2023