EU Reaches Deal To Strengthen Criminal Law Against Corruption

Key Takeaways

• EU-Wide Breakthrough: Parliament and Council negotiators reached a provisional deal on the first directive to harmonise criminal laws against corruption across the EU.
• Common Offense Definitions: The directive sets EU-wide definitions for offences such as bribery, misappropriation of funds, and obstruction of justice, along with shared maximum prison sentence levels.
• Transparency and Strategy: Member states will be required to publish annual corruption data and adopt national anti-corruption strategies developed with civil society and relevant authorities.
• Stronger Cross-Border Enforcement: The rules reinforce cooperation between national authorities and EU bodies including OLAF, Europol, Eurojust, and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Deep Dive

After years of warnings that corruption too easily slips through cracks between national legal systems, EU lawmakers have reached a political deal to tighten the net. On Tuesday night, negotiators from the European Parliament and Council agreed on the Union’s first directive to harmonize criminal laws against corruption, a milestone many in Brussels say is overdue.

The directive sets out a common playbook for what constitutes corruption and how it should be punished, creating shared definitions for crimes like bribery, misappropriation of funds and obstruction of justice. Right now, enforcement standards vary widely across Europe, and prosecutors say that inconsistency has given the most determined offenders room to maneuver.

“We’re closing the loopholes that criminals have counted on for too long,” one EU official said after the talks wrapped.

The deal doesn’t just target wrongdoing after the fact. It forces governments to confront corruption risks more openly by requiring them to publish an annual set of corruption data, in formats that ordinary people can access, and to draft national anti-corruption strategies in consultation with civil society.

These are the kinds of policies anti-corruption advocates have been pushing for, arguing that secrecy is the oxygen corruption needs to survive.

Stronger Cooperation, Fewer Safe Havens

Enforcement won’t rely on any single authority. The directive bolsters cooperation between member states and key EU bodies (OLAF, Europol, Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office) with the aim of closing cross-border blind spots and improving case coordination.

Member states will still be able to impose tougher penalties than the EU baseline, but they will no longer be able to treat corruption as a low-risk offense. Parliament’s lead negotiator, Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle (Renew, NL), framed the agreement as a direct response to what Europeans say they want: accountability.

“People and businesses will benefit from clearer, more consistent rules, regardless of where they are in our Union,” she said, calling the outcome “a breakthrough for citizens expecting the EU to improve their lives.”

It may also be a political signal that the EU, so often accused of lofty rhetoric, can deliver concrete rule-of-law reforms.

Still One Vote Away

Like all provisional dealmaking in Brussels, this agreement needs to clear a final hurdle: formal approval from both Parliament and the Council. Once rubber-stamped, the directive will enter into force and member states will have to translate it into national law.

The plan stems from the Commission’s 2023 anti-corruption package, which branded corruption a serious cross-border crime and warned that enforcement is failing to keep pace. Those concerns remain widespread, and a 2025 Eurobarometer survey found that 69% of Europeans believe corruption is rampant where they live, and most think high-level figures rarely face consequences.

That frustration now has a tangible response and soon, potentially, a law to back it.

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