On 2 June, Transparency International and 57 other civil society organisations published an open letter urging European institutions to strengthen anti-corruption standards during final negotiations.
This open letter follows the deadlock in the trilogue discussions on the ‘Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the fight against corruption, replacing Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA and the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union.’
One of the main objectives of this directive is to establish common standards to prevent and combat corruption in all Member States.
Denmark’s recent assumption of the Presidency of the Council of the EU should provide an opportunity to relaunch discussions on this directive. Nick Aiossa, Director of IT Europe, explains:
‘Member States face a clear choice. They can show ambition and push for a strong directive that offers real protection to EU citizens, or settle for a compromise that avoids uncomfortable truths. This will be a test of Denmark’s leadership – and an opportunity to prove that integrity remains a fundamental value within the EU.’
The directive already drafted in May 2023 by the European Commission proposed essential measures such as the obligation to criminalise all offences covered by the UNCAC under EU law and to harmonise them across all Member States, or to increase criminal penalties, expand the tools and measures available to law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute these offences, or establish minimum standards for measures taken by each Member State to prevent corruption.
This directive, although incomplete, would lay the foundations for a common anti-corruption policy. Transparency International Belgium calls for the resumption of discussions and reaffirms the need to apply common guidelines to combat corruption, which, it should be remembered, is often a transnational problem.
Member States must commit to fighting corruption in order to restore public confidence.
Article from TI France : L’impasse des négociations européennes sur la lutte contre la corruption accroît la pression sur la présidence danoise entrante du Conseil de l’UE – Transparency France International.
Read the open letter here: EU-Anti-Corruption-Directive_Open-letter-to-EU-institutions-02-June-2025.pdf.
