On 3 May 2023, the Commission presented an anti-corruption package, including a proposal for a directive aimed at combating corruption. The proposal defined criminal offences and sanctions associated with corruption as one of the 'areas of particularly serious crime with a cross-border dimension' as outlined in Article 83 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Moreover, it encompassed enhanced measures to prevent and combat corruption, including the requirement to establish independent specialised bodies at national level.

The Commission proposed that Member States impose 'effective, proportionate, and dissuasive criminal penalties' on various activities, including bribery in both public and private sectors, misappropriation, trading in influence, abuse of function, obstruction of justice, and enrichment from corruption offences. It provided for criminal liability for not only natural persons (individuals) but also legal ones (organisations), detailing specific sanctions applicable to the latter.

Some national parliaments expressed doubts regarding the proposal's compliance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.

Several trilogue discussions took place, with negotiations continuing almost until the end of the Danish Presidency (that lasted from July to December 2025). While most provisions had been provisionally agreed upon, certain sensitive issues – particularly the inclusion of the offence of 'abuse of functions' – remained unresolved, as some Member States raised objections.

On 2 December 2025, the Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement on the directive. On 27 January 2026, the LIBE Committee approved the agreement with 54 votes in favour, 11 against, and nine abstentions.

The agreed text mandates the annual publication of EU-wide corruption data. Moreover, as Parliament requested, Member States are required to adopt and publish national anti-corruption strategies, developed in consultation with civil society and a range of ꞌstakeholders. While most of the modifications proposed by the Parliament shaped the final agreement, the definition of a public official is not as broad as the Parliament had sought.

One of the contentious issues in the negotiations was the criminalisation of the ꞌabuse of functionsꞌ by public officials under the directive. Ultimately the term is not used in the final agreement. Instead, the agreed wording establishes the obligation that Member States 'ensure that at least certain serious violations of law in the performance of or failure to perform an act by a public official in the exercise of his functions are punishable as a criminal offence, when committed intentionally'. Moreover, Member States may limit the scope of this obligation to specific categories of public officials, reflecting national sensitivities.

In the European Parliament, the proposal was referred to the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). Ramona Strugariu (Renew , Romania) was the first rapporteur but after the European elections, in September 2024, the LIBE committee appointed Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle (Renew, Netherlands) as the new rapporteur.

The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) acted as an associated committee, with Caterina Chinnici (EPP, Italy) serving as rapporteur (reappointed in July 2024 under the new legislature).  The Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), was designated as the committee for opinion, but chose to not provide one. The LIBE rapporteur presented her draft report on 21 September 2023. The CONT Committee presented its opinion on 7 November 2023, proposing multiple amendments to the Commission proposal. The LIBE Committee adopted its report on 31 January 2024. The committee decision to enter into interinstitutional negotiations was confirmed by plenary on 27 February 2024.

Amendments put forward by Parliament included broadening the definition of public official so that it encompasses 'any person entrusted with tasks of public interest or in charge of a public service.' Parliament requested that EU decision-makers, such as Commissioners and Members of the European Parliament should  be included in the category of 'high-level officials.' The report also urged that Member States formulate and regularly review national strategies for preventing and combating corruption. The proposed amendments offered more specificity on sanctions, compared to the Commission's original proposal. Furthermore, new provisions were introduced concerning the rights of victims and the public affected by corruption, particularly in terms of compensation and their involvement in the proceedings related to the corruption offence.

At its meeting on 14 June 2024, the Council (in its Justice and Home Affairs configuration) approved its general approach on the proposal. The Council text stressed the institutional and administrative autonomy of the Member States. Among other things, the Council modified the structure of the proposed directive and introduced changes in Article 2 on the definitions (for example, that of high level officials) and Articles 7-13 on criminal offences (e.g. misappropriation and enrichment from corruption offences).

References:

• European Parliament, Anti-corruption directive: committee vote endorses trilogue deal, January 2026
• European Parliament, Provisional agreement resulting from interinstitutional negotiations
• European Parliament, Agreement reached on the first EU-wide criminal law rules against corruption, Press release, 2 December 2025
• European Parliament, Combating corruption, 2023/0135(COD)
• European Parliament, Report on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating corruption
• European Parliament,  Opinion of the Committee on Budgetary Control on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating corruption, 7 November 2023
• European Commission, Proposal for a directive on combating corruption, COM(2023)234 final, 3 May 2023
• Council of the EU, Proposal for a directive on combating corruption (general approach)

Further reading

• Piotr Bąkowski, Directive on combating corruption, EPRS, 2024
• Piotr Bąkowski, Combating corruption in the European Union, EPRS, 2024
• A. Persson, M. Worth and P. Jeney, High-risk areas of corruption in the EU: A mapping and in-depth analysis, European Commission, 2024.

Author: Piotr Bąkowski, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu