EU anti-corruption package: Commission meets with Member States and stakeholders on 13-14 March 2023

On the 14 of March 2023, the 16th Experience-sharing Workshop in the Fight against Corruption took place in Brussels. These experience-sharing workshops are regularly organised by the Commission to exchange knowledge and best practice on how to fight corruption. Member State representatives from Ministries of Interior and Justice, Anti-Corruption Agencies, police and prosecution, as well as Europol, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and several Commission services came together.

On 13 March, the Commission also gathered the Local Research Correspondents on Corruption (LRCC), a group of independent anti-corruption experts from all Member States from civil society, academia, etc., for a plenary meeting.

In both meetings, contributions were gathered on the upcoming Commission’s package on anti-corruption, scheduled for adoption end of April.

In particular, the workshop with Member States discussed the Commission’s upcoming proposal for a Directive to combat corruption by criminal law and the overall priorities of the EU to prevent and fight corruption which will be outlined in an accompanying Communication.

With EU Member States, discussion focused on a broader understand of the definitions of corruption offences included in the proposal such as misappropriation, obstruction of justice and illicit enrichment. At a later stage, the opportunity of adding additional sanctions, such as disqualification from holding public office, when corruption is committed by a high-level official, and aggravating circumstances were discussed.

With regards to the Communication, most participants from Member States called for improving measures to prevent corruption, including regular trainings for practitioners. Participants also called for synergies and cooperation between the EU and international organisations involved in the fight against corruption, including on the opportunity of sharing documents and information.

The LRCC meeting also provided broad-ranging and valuable input to the Directive and Communication, ranging from points on specific definitions to the global importance of benchmarking and the prevention of corruption. Experts underlined the need to explore links between corruption and organised crime, as well as the importance of awareness-raising activities.

In addition, the LRCC network presented country-specific reports and regional trends to the Commission, from their point of view, in the framework of the Rule of Law cycle. Plus, an emphasis was laid on the Rule of Law Report and how its impact can be improved on a local level.  Participants of the LRCC meeting called for better coordination with academia and civil society to efficiently disseminate the results of the report on the ground.