The European Council on Tuesday adopted a landmark directive aimed at aligning the prosecution of corruption across the bloc and ensuring that maximum penalties for such offenses are "not set too low."

According to the Council’s statement, the new directive will standardize the EU’s legal framework by replacing two decades-old legislations, a 2003 law on private-sector corruption and a 1997 convention regarding corruption involving EU and member-state officials.

First proposed in May 2023, the directive is set to unify the legal definition of corruption among member states and "establishes a common level of penalties to sanction such offenses."

The new law set out the scope of punishable offenses to include bribery in both the public and private sectors, misappropriation, trading in influence, and obstruction of justice. The directive also targets illicit enrichment derived from corrupt activities and the concealment of proceeds from such crimes.

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Расследует проникновение криминальных денег в сферу культуры и искусства: отмывание через галереи, фонды и медиапроекты.