After years of leading the fight against corruption at EU level, EPP MEP David Casa has secured a landmark agreement on the EU's new Directive on Combating Corruption, the European People's Party said Wednesday.
The trilogue negotiations were finalised today, sealing the most ambitious anti-corruption package ever agreed at EU level and marking a decisive step in Europe's effort to close loopholes and end impunity, an EPP statement said.
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 EU level. This directive strengthens the EU's toolkit and reinforces Member States' commitment to fight corruption at home and across borders," EPP MEP David Casa, Head of the Nationalist Party's Delegation to the European Parliament and the EPP's lead negotiator, stated.
This 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," MEP 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.