European Commission Proposes New Corruption Sanctions Regime

The European Commission and office of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy floated a proposal for a new sanctions regime to target corruption. In a joint communication to the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Economic and Social Committee, they said the regime would allow for sanctions where acts of corruption "seriously affect or risk affecting the fundamental interests of the Union and the objectives of the" Common Foreign and Security Policy. Such acts of corruption include "passive or active bribery" of a public official or "embezzlement or misappropriation" of funds by a public official.

Corrupt actions will be looked at especially keenly in countries that show up on the "EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes," or a "country that suffers from strategic deficiencies in its national regimes on anti-money laundering and countering terrorism financing that pose significant threats to the financial system of the Union."

News of the sanctions regime came as part of a larger anti-corruption action announcement from the council. The commission said that as part of a broader directive on combating corruption, it is looking to harmonize definitions of criminal offenses prosecuted as corruption to cover other activities beyond bribery, including "misappropriation, trading in influence, abuse of functions, as well as obstruction of justice and illicit enrichment related to corruption offences."

The European Parliament last month heard that member states are split over whether to introduce a new anti-corruption sanctions regime (see 2304240040).