Chloé Ridel, a Socialist lawmaker working on the file, said the law also includes specific definitions for many corruption offenses that all EU countries now will share, such as “bribery in the public and private sector, misappropriation in the public and private sector, trading and influence, enrichment from corruption offenses, of obstruction of justice, concealment, and incitement.”
Center-right European People’s Party negotiator David Casa highlighted that the common definitions will facilitate cross-border cooperation and praised the new reporting requirements for EU countries to the Commission as helping Brussels improve monitoring of how member countries tackle corruption.
Not enough
However, critics said the bill isn’t sufficiently far-reaching.
“Despite the efforts by the Parliament, any agreement will be a far cry from what the EU needs to battle corruption in 27 Member States,” said Transparency International EU chief Nick Aïossa ahead of the deal, criticizing countries for lobbying to water it down.
Right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists MEP Mariusz Kamiński highlighted that countries were not required to establish independent anti-corruption authorities.
“How can we push Ukrainians to keep their anti-corruption office independent if we do not require the same inside the EU? There is no strict requirement for such a body to be specialized, and no requirement for it to be independent,” Kamiński said.