Welcome

The European Crime and Safety Survey (EU ICS) is a tool for measuring the volume and nature of crime in Europe. In order to achieve an accurate picture of crime in the EU, survey-based comparative measurement of a large sample of the European public is required, in order to:

a) build a sound knowledge base of European crime trends, and
b) provide tools for evidence-based policy research related to the basic security of European citizens

The EU ICS consortium combines leading European research centres with a proven track record of data collection and analysis. Each consortium member has been working on previous projects collecting, analysing and evaluating policy options based on comparative surveys of crime.

The project follows on from the International Crime Victims Surveys (ICVSs) which all members of the consortium have previously participated in, and developed a new instrument, the European Crime and Safety Survey. The latter addresses new needs for European comparative data for policy-makers.

The EU ICS provides a platform for a global standardised instrument. The combined forces of the consortium members allow the project to go beyond the initial phase of looking at the 18 member states (EU-15 plus Estonia, Poland and Hungary) by exploring additional resources that allow for the inclusion of further Member States and additional countries in the future. New countries with comparative measurements include the United States, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Turkey. The EU ICS supports an enrichment of the policy analysis by allowing for global comparisons.

Finally, in addition to solving basic measurement issues and providing stakeholders with up-to-date information, the EU ICS provides current data on the changing concerns about safety and security of the European public. To enhance the dissemination efforts, the data and analyses are available to the press, the general public in form of reports and press materials as well as analytical datasets for the wider research community through various web-based tools.

The EUICS has been co-financed by the European Commission, DG RTD.