The EU executive wants to harmonise criminal laws against corruption across the bloc, as part of a wide-ranging drive to tackle bribery, abuse of office and illicit enrichment.
Under a proposed draft directive, misappropriation of funds, trading influence, abuse of office, illicit enrichment and obstruction of justice in corruption cases would be harmonised criminal offences. Bribery is currently the only corruption offence criminalised at EU level.
The proposal would establish common definitions of corruption crimes in an effort to make it easier for police to cooperate in cross-border cases, a step seen as crucial in tackling organised crime, as most large criminal gangs are active in three or more countries.
Not all EU member states criminalise all forms of corrupt behaviour – illicit enrichment is an offence in only eight countries, a gap that leaves many EU countries falling short of UN-defined standards, according to EU officials.
Meanwhile, punishments vary widely across member states. Prison sentences for bribery in the public sector range from three months to 15 years; embezzlement in the private sector can lead to time in prison from three months to 20 years.
“It is really high time that we have more of an EU approach when it comes to anti-corruption,” said the EU’s home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson. She said member states had defined corruption offences in different ways “so it is an obstacle when it comes to the police cooperation for an investigation … and for prosecution”.
She pledged there would be “significantly higher” minimum punishments for corruption offences.
Under the proposal, member states would be required to have an anti-corruption agency and cooperate with a revamped EU anti-corruption network. The law, which would apply to public institutions and private companies, would also seek to end what EU officials see as “opaque” procedures for lifting immunity from prosecution for certain individuals.
The law would also seek to harmonise statutes of limitations, as short deadlines on prosecuting corruption suspects can stymie cross-border investigations into the most complex cases.
“The killing in our streets has a close connection to corruption,” Johansson said, referring to the murder of two investigative reporters, Daphne Caruana Galizia of Malta and Ján Kuciak of Slovakia, as well as the fatal shooting of a 12-year-old girl in Antwerp, who became the victim of a drug war between rival gangs in January.
EU officials are confident of agreement on the law from all member states, including Hungary, where the government of the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has been accused of presiding over the corrupt award of public contracts and state capture of independent investigatory and audit bodies. The commission thinks implementing the law, rather than agreeing it, will be the greater test.
In related proposals, the EU also plans to sanction foreign nationals for corruption offences, in a belated catch-up with other jurisdictions. Under US, British and Canadian law, foreigners can be sanctioned for corruption offences and human rights abuses. Such laws were inspired by the death in custody in 2009 of the Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who uncovered a massive tax fraud run by Russian officials, but was then arrested and thrown into one of Russia’s most notorious pre-trial detention centres, where he was denied medical care.
The EU typically imposes sanctions – asset freezes and travel bans – on people and companies involved in fomenting wars, stealing elections, or repressing civilians.
In 2020 the bloc made it possible to sanction foreign nationals for human rights violations, but unlike the US, UK and Canada, did not include corruption, possibly fearing legal challenges from wealthy individuals.
Misappropriation of state assets are grounds for EU sanctions in relation to a handful of countries, Tunisia, Egypt and Ukraine. Under the latest proposals, people from all around the world would now face EU sanctions for high-level corruption.
