The European Parliament adopted by 545 votes to 91,
with 61 abstentions a resolution on the fight against corruption
and follow-up of the CRIM resolution.
Following on from the recommendations set out in their
resolution
of 23 October 2013 on organised crime, corruption and money
laundering, Members reiterated their call for the adoption of a
European Action Plan to eradicate organised crime,
corruption and money laundering, which should have adequate
financial resources and qualified staff in order to be
effective.
The resolution pointed out that the fight against
fraud, corruption and money laundering must be a political
priority for the EU institutions, and that police and
judicial cooperation between Member States is therefore
crucial.
The following recommendations were made:
Ensure the correct transposition of existing
rules: Members called on the Commission to complete its
assessment of the measures taken to transpose these instruments, to
inform Parliament of the findings and, if necessary, to initiate
infringement proceedings, especially with regard to Council
Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA on the fight against organised
crime and Directive
2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the
protection of the environment through criminal law.
Parliament stressed in this regard the role of the
European crime prevention network and the need to give it
financial support.
Priorities and operational structure: Parliament suggested:
- combating crimes of association, rather than simply
combating so-called target crimes;
- combating money laundering, corruption and human
trafficking among its priorities within a genuine European
anti–corruption strategy;
- establishing a specialist Europol unit to
combat organised criminal groups which operate in several sectors
at the same time.
A stronger legislative framework: with a view to filling gaps that may exist in
the fight against organised crime and corruption and to
improve cross-border judicial cooperation, Parliament called
on the Commission to:
- revise existing legislation in order to introduce
effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties and to clarify
the common definitions of crimes, including that of membership
of a criminal organisation or association;
- submit a revised legislative proposal to combat
environmental crimes.
The Commission should also draft minimum rules
concerning the definition of offences and penalties in the
following areas:
- general definitions of ‘public official’,
the crime of fraud and the crime of corruption;
- a legislative proposal instituting a dedicated
European programme to protect witnesses and persons who cooperate
with the judicial process by reporting criminal organisations and
organisations;
- a legislative proposal defining and instituting common
rules for the protection of whistleblowers to be issued
before the end of 2017;
- additional legislative initiatives for
strengthening the rights of suspects or accused persons in
criminal proceedings, with respect inter alia to pre–trial
detention;
- specific legislation to fight the export of
radioactive materials and hazardous waste and the illegal
trade in fauna and flora.
More effective police and judicial cooperation at EU
level: the Commission was invited to
launch specific actions to enhance European cooperation in the
fight against organised crime, corruption and money
laundering.
Member States were asked to:
- systematically input, make use of and exchange all
data deemed necessary and relevant
concerning persons convicted of an offence linked to organised
crime held in existing European databases and to invite the EU
agencies Europol and Eurojust to facilitate this exchange of
information;
- systematically exchange all PNR data deemed
necessary and relevant concerning persons linked to organised
crime.
Seizing the assets of criminal
organisations: the Commission was
asked to submit a legislative proposal to ensure mutual recognition
of seizure and confiscation orders linked to national
asset-protection measures.
The Commission and Member States were called upon
to strengthen EU measures on the tracing, freezing and
confiscation of proceeds of crime, as well as the management of
frozen and confiscated property and its re-use for social purposes
and as compensation for families of victims and businesses
adversely affected by loan-sharking and racketeering.
Preventing organised crime and corruption from
infiltrating the legal economy:
Parliament called on the Member States and the
European institutions:
- to implement public procurement monitoring
instruments, to draw up blacklists of any undertakings
which have proven links with organised crime and/or engaged in
corrupt practices and to bar them from entering into an economic
relationship with a public authority and from benefiting from EU
funds;
- to create specialised structures at national
level to detect criminal organisations and to exclude public
tender entities that are implicated in corrupt practices or money
laundering;
- to increase the transparency of monetary transactions
and to improve the traceability of transactions back to
natural persons in order to trace criminal and terrorist funding
(‘follow the moneyʼ principle);.
On a specific level,
Parliament recommended, inter alia:
- taking all necessary steps to prevent and combat
counterfeiting of goods, medicines and agri-food
products;
- tackling the links between the drugs market and
other criminal activities and the impact that they have on the
legal economy and legal trade;
- combatting the use by criminal organisations of the
legal and illegal gambling circuits and match–fixing to
launder money;
- giving special attention to tax havens and
countries that pursue non-transparent or harmful tax prices, since
EUR 1 trillion is lost to tax evasion and avoidance every year in
the EU;
- developing a common action plan to prevent and combat
illegal environment-related activities connected to organised,
mafia-style criminal activities, such as illegal waste
trafficking and disposal, including that of toxic waste,
and destruction of the natural heritage;
- reinforcing Union legislation and cooperation between
the Member States and with the Union agencies in the area of
cybercrime;
- ensuring that the financing and support of terrorism
by means of organised crime is made punishable and rapidly
implement the Commission action plan against illicit
trafficking in, and use of, firearms and explosives;
- ensuring that progress is made on international
cooperation to combat trafficking in order to eradicate
people-smuggling and minimise the influence of trafficking
networks;
- developing an effective anti-corruption
strategy in foreign policy to fight effectively against
corruption and financial crime.
European Public Prosecutor’s Office
(EPPO): Members called once again for
the establishment as soon as possible, with the participation of as
many Member States as possible, of an EPPO that is efficient and
independent from national governments and the EU institutions, and
protected from political influence and pressure. The European
Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) should constitute a central
element in the fight against corruption in the European
Union.