From the Italian Business Victim Crime Survey to the European One

In 2008 TRANSCRIME carried out for the Italian Ministry of Interior, the first Italian Business Victim Crime Survey by using a large representative sample of 83,000 Italian firms and 11,400 respondents. Firms responded on all crimes of which they had been victims, including those related to organised crime. In late 2008, TRANSCRIME was awarded by the European Commission the study to prepare the future EU Crime Business Survey. Both experiences are discussed with particular reference to crime areas included in the Italian one and suggestions for the future EU survey. Innovative data collection strategies have been successfully examined in Italy. They could be a good examples for other countries and suggestions for the European one. In this paper the authors discuss the pros and the cons of these experiences, showing what lessons may be learned.