Combating corruption in EU legislation An analysis of some aspects of the commission proposal for the EU anti-corruption Directive

The anti-corruption package presented by the European Commission in May 2023 reaffirms the priority given to combating corruption crimes in the EU. In response to the current disharmony and fragmentation of national legal systems, the proposal for a new EU Directive on combating corruption calls for greater alignment at the European level. By applying the EU’s “non-exclusive” competence in criminal matters, serious corruption offenses will be countered on a shared basis, also in view of their potential cross-border dimension. The authors argue, however, that there are provisions in the proposed directive that raise serious doubts as to the adherence to the principle of proportionality, the tendency to largely equalize responses to corruption in the public and private sectors, and the preservation of basic principles of criminal law, such as legality and the degree of certainty required for offences.