Appointed today during the CIVEX Commission meeting in Brussels, Mr Bianchi will now start work on drawing up a CoR opinion on the "EU roadmap to fight drug trafficking and organised crime" with the first exchange of views scheduled for the February meeting.

Upon his appointment, Mr Bianchi, member of the local assembly of Varese in Lombardy, highlighted the importance of prioritising actions in the area of fighting drug trafficking, including on prevention by tackling the root causes of organised crime and taking action against criminal activities as a permanent solution: " such actions require not only efforts of law enforcement authorities, but also that of municipalities", he stated. 

In its non-legislative communication, the European Commission proposes to establish a European Ports Alliance, and calls on policymakers and practitioners at EU, national and local levels to connect and exchange information towards a more robust legal framework against organised crime. "One of the proposed actions could explore the potential of empowering local authorities to use administrative tools to prevent the criminal infiltration of legal businesses and administrative infrastructure", Mr Bianchi said.

The draft opinion is scheduled to be adopted in the April CIVEX Commission meeting before being put to vote in the CoR June plenary session.