The European Parliament has approved the new anti-corruption directive, with the aim of harmonizing criminal laws between member states and strengthening the fight against crimes related to public administration. Among the provisions is the introduction in all member states of the crime of abuse of office, a crime abolished in Italy by the Nordio reform and which will now have to be introduced again
It was the speaker of the text, the Dutch liberal Raquel Garcìa Hermida-Van Der Walle, who explained that our country “will have to mandatorily criminalize at least two of the most serious crimes that fall within the scope of abuse of office”. If “the crime of abuse of office has been abolished, it will have to be de-abolished”, argued the rapporteur.
“If I see the votes within the EU Council, Italy voted in favor of these rules. So I hope that the directive is applied”, also said the president of the European Chamber, Roberta Metsola.
The new directive aims to reduce the differences between national legislation, which for years have been considered a vulnerability that can be exploited by corruption phenomena. The directive introduces common minimum standards and provides for the adoption of more homogeneous penalties for corruption crimes.
However, the text leaves margins of discretion to the States in transposition, especially in some specific cases. During the press conference following the vote, President Metsola claimed the scope of the reform, claiming that the directive “harmonizes criminal laws to fight corruption”. “For too long legislation has been fragmented and differences between states could be exploited allowing corruption to persist. We are now establishing common standards and introducing minimum sentences, clear rules applied consistently across Europe,” he added.
The president’s message is clear: “There is no room for corruption in our Europe”. The directive will now have to be formally adopted by the EU Council and subsequently implemented by the member states.
