Money laundering, corruption and organised crime are the topics, which a new special committee in the European Parliament has been asked to investigate. The subject of this enquiry is to establish the extent of embezzlement of public funds, bribery or money laundering in the European Union.The new committee consists of 45 members, among them two Austrians, Hubert Pirker of the Austrian People’s Party and Josef Weidenholzer of the Social Democratic Party of Austria. The committee shall take up its activities at the end of April. The aim is to establish within a year, what influence organised crime has on both European economy and society. The intention is to organise hearings during the course of the investigation to which EU and national organisations will be invited.