Italian Mafia has 'larger annual budget than European Union'
Brutal recession and banks' reluctance to lend leaves more businesses turning to mob for help

ITALY'S Mafia groups have a bigger annual budget than the European Union, the country's foreign ministry has claimed.
Giovanni Brauzzi, security policy director at the ministry, claims the Mob's annual income has passed the €200bn (£166bn) mark compared with the total EU spend of €140bn (£116bn).
His estimate marks a 43 per cent increase from the figure produced by the Confesercenti, an organisation of Italian businesses, which in 2012 claimed that the Mafia generated an annual turnover of €140bn (£116bn).
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Confesercenti report described the Mafia as the "biggest bank" in the country with €65bn in liquidity and said a growing number of small and medium sized businesses were coming into contact with the Mob.
Experts have warned that Italy's brutal recession, combined with its banks' reluctance to lend money, has left more and more businesses turning to organised crime for help.
Speaking at a conference in Brussels this week, Brauzzi said that crime syndicates in Italy had also begun to shift their "investments" overseas, with just 10 per cent of their budget still parked within the country. "The rest they invest in countries in Europe and elsewhere," he said. "They have good friends everywhere."
Organised crime has infiltrated "the most important companies working in financial transactions", he said. "Corruption is the easiest way of doing business in their framework."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The news comes as the centre-right Forza Italia party, led by disgraced former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was this week accused of trying to destroy a bill aimed at stopping the Mafia's ability to sell votes to corrupt politicians in the south of Italy, reports The Independent.
The money-for-votes racket is a key means by which the Mafia earns money and maintains power and influence.
The legislation, which has already passed through the Senate, is at risk of being smothered by 1,000 or so amendments from Forza Italia MPs.
-
Strava vs. Garmin: the row splitting the running community
Under The Radar The legal dispute between the two titans of exercise tech is like ‘Mom and Dad fighting’
-
Bad Bunny: Why MAGA is incensed
Feature The NFL announced Latino artist Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl halftime headliner, sparking MAGA outrage
-
Supreme Court: Judging 20 years of Roberts
Feature Two decades after promising to “call balls and strikes,” Chief Justice John Roberts faces scrutiny for reshaping American democracy
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime minister
In the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of Taiwan
In the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Moldova gives decisive win to pro-EU party
Speed Read The country is now on track to join the European Union within five years
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdown
IN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American cities
Under the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctions
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?
today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
On VE Day, is Europe alone once again?
Today's Big Question Donald Trump's rebranding of commemoration as 'Victory Day for World War Two' underlines breakdown of post-war transatlantic alliance