The note evaluates the current legislation on the asset recovery process both at the EU and Member States level, with a view to assessing the need and the feasibility of establishing EU regulation on the use of confiscated assets for civil society and in particular for social purposes.

It points out that at the EU level only limited attention has been given to the final destination of confiscated assets and that within Member States using confiscated assets for social purposes is not a widely established practice. It analyses the advantages of the social re-use of confiscated assets and comes to the conclusion that there is a clear need for a coherent European approach.

The note puts forward a series of recommendations ranging from the adoption of a European Directive on the social re-use of confiscated assets to the creation of a European Asset Recovery Database, a European Asset Recovery Fund and a European Asset Recovery Office.