Eu Day Light

The EU Parliament on Thursday approved new rules aimed at creating a harmonized criminal law framework across the EU to combat corruption. The directive had been provisionally agreed between Parliament and the Council in December 2025.

The new regulations standardize the definitions of crimes such as bribery, embezzlement, obstruction of justice, trading in influence, abuse of power, illicit enrichment linked to corruption, concealment, and corruption in the private sector, and align penalties. The directive was adopted with 581 votes in favor, 21 against, and 42 abstentions.

Existing rules will be modernized by harmonizing legal definitions and introducing structured penalty levels, thereby closing enforcement gaps, particularly in cross-border cases. Maximum penalty levels will be set across the EU, while member states retain the right to apply stricter rules.

Cooperation between member states and EU institutions (OLAF, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Europol, and Eurojust) will be strengthened. In addition, member states will publish comparable and machine-readable data annually.

Member states will be required to adopt national anti-corruption strategies, conduct risk assessments, and establish robust systems for managing conflicts of interest, transparency in political financing, and integrity standards. Sufficiently independent bodies must also be operational to prevent and address corruption.

MEP Raquel Garcia Hermida-van der Walle, who led the Parliament’s work, said: “This law is of historic importance. Corruption has led to journalists being silenced, citizens losing their lives, and their futures being stolen. This law is about defending Europe and serving our citizens.”

After formal adoption by the Council, the directive will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal. Member states will have 24 months to implement the provisions, except for risk assessments and national strategies, for which the deadline is set at 36 months.