This new EU law will be a historic step in fighting corruption

For too long, the fight against corruption in Europe has been fought with one hand tied behind our backs. Corruption standards differ wildly between countries, resulting in fragmented justice systems that suffer from sluggishness and a lack of political will to improve them.

In Malta, we know the cost of this paralysis better than most. We have seen how corruption can rot the foundations of democracy, how it can delay justice for years and how it can leave a society demanding answers that its institutions fail to give.

European citizens have been repeatedly expecting better out of Brussels. Earlier this month, we delivered. Following months of intense negotiations, we secured a historic agreement on the EU’s first ever Anti-Corruption Directive. It will set the first-ever EU-wide standards for how corruption is identified, investigated and prosecuted.

As negotiators, we had a mandate to fight impunity and a mandate to deliver a law with teeth, because the European Parliament believes that nobody should be above the law.

Until now, definitions of corruption-related offences varied from one country to another. This was a fatal flaw for cross-border prosecutions. But it also makes it difficult for the European Union to monitor and assess how member states are responding to crime.

Having Union-level definitions closes that gap. The directive harmonises definitions for bribery, misappropriation, trading in influence, obstruction of justice, enrichment and concealment, and abuse of functions.

The parliament fought to have all these crimes as mandatory features in member states’ criminal codes, while respecting national legal systems.

For Malta, this answers a pressing need. The public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia recommended legislative steps that the Maltese government has completely ignored.

On abuse of functions, the Maltese government will now be forced to present legislative measures to criminalise certain serious violations.

The wins of the directive are about more than just one country. With standards on maximum penalties, minimum limitation periods and key obligations to ensure that the obligation to fight corruption is upheld, what we have achieved is also safeguard and a milestone to prevent further backsliding in member states.

Outside of the courtroom, the directive also presents a prevention package that obliges member states to holistically assess and address corruption risks through strategies and campaigns. The directive also obliges member states to adopt specific measures, especially in the public sphere.

The Maltese government will now be forced to present legislative measures- David Casa

How member states implement the directive will be closely monitored. For the first time, data will be collected on how corruption is tackled, which will attract EU scrutiny of national anti-corruption apparatuses for the first time.

Impunity for crime fundamentally erodes trust in our democracies. It challenges the fundamental values in which the EU is rooted.

When it happens anywhere in the Union, it threatens principles of good governance on which every EU citizen relies. It costs the Union several billions of euros each year.

The Combating Corruption Directive addresses each of these concerns, making the Union a safer, fairer place for citizens and businesses to live and work.

Getting to this point was not easy. We faced pushback from governments that were reluctant to sign up to overly onerous obligations. And the parliament’s ambition to set strict rules had to be balanced with genuine concerns over the sheer divergences of legal traditions between member states.

The result of standing firm is the strongest law we could obtain that we want to see work in the best way possible. We have set the bar but we expect more than the bare minimum when it comes to fighting corruption.

This is one tool in our arsenal to hold member states accountable and to see the corrupt face justice.

The provisional agreement on the Combating Corruption Directive is a victory in that battle but it is not the end.

We have succeeded in achieving a strong starting point. We are working for a swift adoption in parliament and a robust implementation that ensures these rules are adopted not just in letter but in spirit, too.

David Casa is a Nationalist Party MEP.