A fight against corruption across national borders

by Azzurra Vezzà

The fight against corruption is increasingly an EU as well as a national issue. To this end, the European Network of Authorities for Public Ethics has been established and an anti-corruption "package" has been defined by the European Commission.


On November 10, 2022, the Statute of the European Network of Authorities for Public Ethics ("European Network for Public Ethics" and "ENPE") was signed in Zagreb, the main objective of which is to urge the harmonization of national anti-corruption regulations in order to identify common principles such that the fight against corruption is effective and efficient.


ENPE in April 2023 published a Position Paper on the European Union's anti-corruption package through which it calls on the European Commission to also include within the European anti-corruption directive common standards for the prevention of both public and private corruption: 

  • By identifying a common definition of conflict of interest; 
  • Harmonizing national legislation on reporting requirements on income and wealth situations; 
  • By improving regulations regarding the transfer of workers from the public to the private sector and vice versa (so-called pantouflage).

The European Commission published on May 3, 2023, "Proposal for a 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, and amending Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council".

Indeed, the European Commission's proposal expands the definition of corruption to include embezzlement, influence peddling, abuse of office, obstruction of justice, unlawful enrichment, and attempted corruption. At the same time, the European Commission aims to raise the prescribed sentencing ranges for such unlawful conduct and the statute of limitations, consequently highlighting the great social disvalue of such conduct. Finally, the European Commission calls for harmonization by member states in relation to aggravating and mitigating circumstances by providing in particular for the aggravation of the penalty in the event that the illegal conduct is carried out by a high public official or for the benefit of a Third Country.

Indeed, the European Commission's proposal expands the definition of corruption to include embezzlement, influence peddling, abuse of office, obstruction of justice, unlawful enrichment, and attempted corruption. At the same time, the European Commission aims to raise the prescribed sentencing ranges for such unlawful conduct and the statute of limitations, consequently highlighting the great social disvalue of such conduct. Finally, the European Commission calls for harmonization by member states in relation to aggravating and mitigating circumstances by providing in particular for the aggravation of the penalty in the event that the illegal conduct is carried out by a high public official or for the benefit of a Third Country.

It's clear that the Proposal for a European Directive presented by the European Commission incorporates the indications provided by ENPE within its Position Paper, and besides, it couldn’t be otherwise. Over the years, the phenomenon of corruption has increasingly taken on a transnational character, and this has highlighted the need to define guiding principles that are common among all the Member States of the European Union, with the hope that the various national legislations will adapt to them quickly.