Knickmeier, S. (2018). Ein Kampf gegen Windmühlen? Zur Prävention von Alltagsdelikten. In M. Walsh, B. Pniewski, M. Kober, & A. Armborst (Eds.), Evidenzorientierte Kriminalprävention in Deutschland. Ein Leitfaden für Politik und Praxis (pp. 841–857). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-20506-5_43
Article 1 of the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) establishes the European Union as an area of freedom, security, and justice. This has been bolstered by the Council of the European Union's emphasis on the importance of appropriate measures to prevent and combat crime (see, for example, Stockholm Programme 2010-2014 or the Internal Security Strategy 2010). Yet, to maintain security and prevent crime, criminal policy invariably concentrates on the use of repressive strategies, with little regard for their cost, effectiveness and, at times, counter-productive nature. The FIDUCIA project was designed to assess whether a pan-European political shift away from such instrumental forms of compliance to a public trust (in Latin, "fiducia") approach is possible and, indeed, desirable.
Project category: Research project Status of project: Completed Project languages: English Research program (Criminology): Homeland Security, Organized Crime, Terrorism, International Cooperation Projects Organizational status: Departmental project Department: Criminology Project duration: Project start: 2012
Project end: 2015- Group by:20182015
Knickmeier, S., Bikelis, S., Hough, M., Sato, M., & Buker, H. (2015). Trafficking of goods : Report on the state-of-the-art situation of trafficking of goods in EU countries. In S. Maffei & E. S. Carrillo Calderón (Eds.), Fiducia. New European Crimes and Trust-Based Policy, volume#3 (Vol. 3, pp. 35–52). Athen: EPLO. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0003-787F-9
2014Haverkamp, R., Knickmeier, S., Hough, M., Sato, M., Bikelis, S., & Buker, H. (2014). Trafficking of goods : Report on the latest statistics, with accessible factsheets. In S. Maffei & L. Markopoulou (Eds.), Fiducia. New European Crimes and Trust-Based Policy, volume#2 (Vol. 2, pp. 43–74). Athen: EPLO. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0003-787D-B
Contribution to a Collected editionKnickmeier, S. (2018). Ein Kampf gegen Windmühlen? Zur Prävention von Alltagsdelikten. In M. Walsh, B. Pniewski, M. Kober, & A. Armborst (Eds.), Evidenzorientierte Kriminalprävention in Deutschland. Ein Leitfaden für Politik und Praxis (pp. 841–857). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-20506-5_43
Knickmeier, S., Bikelis, S., Hough, M., Sato, M., & Buker, H. (2015). Trafficking of goods : Report on the state-of-the-art situation of trafficking of goods in EU countries. In S. Maffei & E. S. Carrillo Calderón (Eds.), Fiducia. New European Crimes and Trust-Based Policy, volume#3 (Vol. 3, pp. 35–52). Athen: EPLO. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0003-787F-9
Haverkamp, R., Knickmeier, S., Hough, M., Sato, M., Bikelis, S., & Buker, H. (2014). Trafficking of goods : Report on the latest statistics, with accessible factsheets. In S. Maffei & L. Markopoulou (Eds.), Fiducia. New European Crimes and Trust-Based Policy, volume#2 (Vol. 2, pp. 43–74). Athen: EPLO. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0003-787D-B
EnglishKnickmeier, S., Bikelis, S., Hough, M., Sato, M., & Buker, H. (2015). Trafficking of goods : Report on the state-of-the-art situation of trafficking of goods in EU countries. In S. Maffei & E. S. Carrillo Calderón (Eds.), Fiducia. New European Crimes and Trust-Based Policy, volume#3 (Vol. 3, pp. 35–52). Athen: EPLO. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0003-787F-9
Haverkamp, R., Knickmeier, S., Hough, M., Sato, M., Bikelis, S., & Buker, H. (2014). Trafficking of goods : Report on the latest statistics, with accessible factsheets. In S. Maffei & L. Markopoulou (Eds.), Fiducia. New European Crimes and Trust-Based Policy, volume#2 (Vol. 2, pp. 43–74). Athen: EPLO. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0003-787D-B
GermanKnickmeier, S. (2018). Ein Kampf gegen Windmühlen? Zur Prävention von Alltagsdelikten. In M. Walsh, B. Pniewski, M. Kober, & A. Armborst (Eds.), Evidenzorientierte Kriminalprävention in Deutschland. Ein Leitfaden für Politik und Praxis (pp. 841–857). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-20506-5_43
Object of the Project:
The idea behind the FIDUCIA project was that public trust in justice is important for social regulation. As such, the project proposed a trust-based policy model in relation to emerging forms of criminality. Based on procedural justice and social motivation, the drivers of normative compliance were analyzed. As opposed to current European criminal policy, the FIDUCIA project focused on why people obey the law, rather than why people break the law. A degree of awareness about the broader importance of public trust was previously gained from the EURO-JUSTIS (2008-2011) project, which concluded that compliance with the law depends on the legitimacy of its institutions: their fair, just, and legal behavior is an essential precondition for an effective justice system.
The FIDUCIA project concentrated on the application of a trust-based approach to legitimacy, normative compliance, and the rule of law. The roots of trust and distrust were carefully analyzed and a trust-based policy model developed. This model was, in particular, focused on four "new" European crimes (human trafficking, trafficking of goods, cybercrime, and criminalization of migrant and ethnic minorities). These crimes were considered to have increased due to developments in technology, personal mobility, and the free movement of goods within the EU. Whilst most people agree that the majority of conventional crimes are morally wrong, the position is less clear-cut for at least some of these new forms of crime.
Case Study: Trafficking of Goods
The case study "Trafficking of Goods" was led by the Max Planck Institute. The illicit markets in the case study included the following products: alcohol, cigarettes, drugs (heroin, cannabis, and ecstasy), works of art/antiques, product piracy, and counterfeit medicine.
The free movement of goods, including the related promotion of intra-community trade and the abolition of customs tariffs, is one of the EU´s most important freedoms. However, an increase in the trafficking of goods is seen as a direct consequence of this more integrated and mobile EU. Tackling the trafficking of goods is a major challenge for policy makers, law enforcement agencies, and (legal) product manufactures, because the trafficking of goods can cause enormous damages, including lost tax revenue, distortion of competition, loss of income (on the legal job market), and dangers to people´s health (due to the consumption of illicit drugs or counterfeit medicine). Another problem is the widespread acceptance of several illicit markets (for example, tobacco and product piracy) and, therewith, a missing sense of guilt for a threat to the rule of law. Against this backdrop, the FIDUCIA project questioned whether a strengthening of control activities was really able to regulate the informal economy or whether public acceptance of legal rules and the legitimacy of judicial institutions could lead to improved compliance.
Methodology:
The case study explored the legal, criminological, and sociological aspects that surround the trafficking of goods. The scale of illicit markets was described with the aid of statistical data. Thereafter, political, practical, and legal measures to prevent the trafficking of goods, as well as the structure of illicit markets and public attitudes towards them, were analyzed. Finally, conclusions are provided as to whether criminal policy should be changed.
A statistical summary on the trafficking of goods had been designed to organize the broad range of statistics available at a national and supranational level. Various techniques for assessing the scale of illicit markets were used, including extrapolations from seizure statistics and "mirror statistics" (comparing estimates of illicit commercial activity with statistics on legitimate commercial activity). Statistics were gathered from publicly available sources, such as government branches and commercial industries directly affected by the trafficking of goods.
To describe the dynamics of illicit markets as well as the players involved (producers, traffickers, consumers), a qualitative content analysis of legal documents and interviews with experts had been chosen. Public attitudes towards the trafficking of goods and people's justification in connection with smuggling goods were examined through a secondary analysis.
Cooperation:
The FIDUCIA consortium contained 13 research institutes led by the University of Parma. The project was co-funded by the EU through the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Development. Results were presented at annual international conferences. At the final conference in Brussels, research findings were discussed with European politicians and policy makers.
Events:
FIDUCIA – Progress Meeting
03/07/2014