2. FIVE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES FOR INTERNAL SECURITY This communication identifies the most urgent challenges to EU security in the years to come. It proposes five strategic objectives and specific actions for 2011-2014 which, alongside ongoing efforts and initiatives, will help make the EU more secure. Serious and organised crime takes a variety of forms: trafficking in human beings, drugs and firearms trafficking, money laundering and the illegal shipment and dumping of waste inside and outside Europe. Even seemingly petty crimes such as burglary and car theft, sale of counterfeit and dangerous goods and the actions of itinerant gangs are often local manifestations of global criminal networks. These crimes require concerted European action. Likewise with terrorism: our societies remain vulnerable to the sorts of attacks suffered with the bombings of public transport in Madrid in 2004 and in London in 2005. We must work harder and more closely to prevent new attacks recurring. Another growing threat is cybercrime. Europe is a key target for cybercrime because of its advanced Internet infrastructure, the high number of users, and its internet-mediated economies and payment systems. Citizens, businesses, governments and critical infrastructure must be better protected from criminals who take advantage of modern technologies. Border security also requires more coherent action. With common external borders, smuggling and other cross-border illegal activity must be targeted at European level. Efficient control of the EU's external borders is thus crucial for the area of free movement. Furthermore, in recent years we have seen an increase in the frequency and scale of natural and man-made disasters in Europe and in its immediate neighbourhood. This has demonstrated the need for a stronger, more coherent and better integrated European crisis and disaster response capacity as well as for the implementation of existing disaster prevention policies and legislation. OBJECTIVE 1: Disrupt international crime networks Despite growing cooperation between law enforcement authorities and the judiciary within as well as between Member States, international crime networks remain highly active, creating vast criminal profits. Alongside corruption and intimidation of local populations and authorities these profits are often used to penetrate the economy and undermine public trust. To prevent crime it is therefore essential to disrupt criminal networks and combat the financial incentive which drives them. To that end, practical law enforcement cooperation should be strengthened. Authorities across all sectors and at different levels should work together to protect the economy, and criminal profits should be effectively traced and confiscated. We also need to overcome the, obstacles posed by divergent national approaches, where necessary through legislation on judicial cooperation to strengthen mutual recognition and common definitions of criminal offences and minimum levels of criminal sanctions8. 8 EN Recent proposals for Directives on trafficking in human beings, sexual exploitation of children and cybercrime represent an important first step in this direction. Article 83(1) TFEU lists the following other serious crimes: terrorism, illicit drug trafficking, illicit arms trafficking, money laundering, corruption, counterfeiting of means of payment and organised crime. 4 EN