Agreement on new Anti-Corruption Law: Close Loopholes, End Impunity

EU Member States and the European Parliament agreed tonight on new rules to combat corruption, marking a major milestone in Europe’s fight against corruption. The agreement concludes months of intensive discussions and establishes a harmonised and enforceable EU-wide framework to prevent, detect, and punish corruption. 

“I welcome the provisional agreement on the biggest anti-corruption package to date at the EU level. This directive strengthens the EU’s toolkit and reinforces Member States’ commitment to fight corruption at home and across borders,” said EPP MEP David Casa, EPP’s lead negotiator of the new law.

The Anti-Corruption Directive introduces EU-wide definitions of corruption offences and sets the standard for maximum penalties and minimum limitation periods to ensure consistent enforcement across Member States. It requires countries to adopt strong preventive measures, such as national anti-corruption strategies, sectoral risk assessments, stricter rules for high-level officials, improved access to public-interest information, and additional non-criminal measures for convicted individuals and companies. 

The conclusion of the trilogues comes at a critical moment, following recent scandals and increasing public demand for transparency and accountability. 

“Backsliding on anti-corruption measures is unacceptable. This directive sets essential standards to guarantee that nobody is above the law, obliging countries to establish independent, properly resourced bodies and ensuring EU-level monitoring and data collection feeding into the annual Rule of Law reports,” Casa underlined.

“We will now have a better basis for cooperation between judicial and law enforcement authorities, and a stronger ability to assess how Member States are delivering justice,” Casa added.