Freezing of assets and "non grata"/ EU, package of sanctions to attack corruption

2023-05-04 12:27:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Freezing of assets and "non grata"/ EU, package of sanctions to attack

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The European Commission unveiled on Wednesday a series of new measures proposed to fight corruption in the EU, but also around the world.

The package would enable the EU to ban entry and freeze assets for individuals and entities from third countries if they have committed serious acts of corruption.

With the new directive, the EU wants to harmonize the definition of criminal offenses such as abuse of influence and abuse of office in the 27 member states and to have criminal sanctions for corruption cases.

"The package will raise the standard in terms of definitions and penalties across the EU for criminal offenses of corruption and will help authorities catch and punish criminals, whether in the public or private sector, wherever they happen," said the Vice-President of European Commission for Values ??and Transparency, V?ra Jourová, after the discovery of the proposal.

One element of the proposal is the fight against corruption outside Europe. The package would enable the EU to introduce entry bans and asset freezes on individuals and entities from third countries if they have committed serious corruption offences.

Since December, the European Union has been rocked by its biggest corruption scandal to date, with five people - including sitting MEPs and former aides - charged with participating in a criminal organisation, corruption and money laundering. For anti-corruption NGO Transparency International, this is proof the EU must first get its own house in order before targeting foreign corruption suspects.

"The European Union has serious problems with corruption, we have seen this with Qatargate and many other examples. And also some member states have very serious problems," Roland Papp, Senior Policy Officer at Transparency International, told "Euronews".

"So of course it is very important that we cannot do anything abroad when EU citizens go unpunished at home. So it is very important for the EU to intensify its work on this within the country", he added.

To tackle the problem, the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament are calling for a strengthened legal framework and investigative tools, greater cooperation between competent authorities and a greater role for the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO).

"If the Commission is serious about the fight against corruption, they should also make much more use of the rule of law mechanism and better equip the European Public Prosecutor's Office. The Commission must stop the intrusions and create an independent EU ethics body to ensure EU institutions," German MEP Daniel Freund, who sits on the Civil Liberties and Affairs Committee, said in a statement. Constitutional./ Euronews