Despite laws on the fight against corruption, in the EU every year it swallows up almost 120 billion euros or one percent of the European GDP, and 80 percent of European citizens believe that it is a big problem in their country, a warning was heard at the debate in the European Parliament dedicated to anti-corruption package of the European Commission.
As the European Commission points out, the European Union has sophisticated anti-corruption laws, but their implementation in the member states is uneven and unsatisfactory. The Commission will therefore introduce the European Anti-Corruption Report to monitor and evaluate the efforts of Member States in the fight against corruption and encourage their greater political engagement.
The commission will publish the report every two years, first in 2013. Several representatives pointed out that the fight against corruption should start in the Parliament itself in order to show the citizens that the European Parliament is determined to fight corruption in politics.
The need for better protection of people who report corruption, faster investigations and harmonization of the way in which cases are treated in the EU when multinational companies bribe civil servants in third countries was also highlighted.
The debate on corruption will continue at the next plenary session of the EP, when three questions will be addressed to the Commission and the Council on September 14, including the question of how the EU can ensure the necessary political will in the member states to fight corruption.
The Commission will also prepare a number of other measures, e.g. participation in the European Council's anti-corruption group of countries as well as proposals for new rules for confiscation of illegally acquired assets, improvement of financial crime investigations, strengthening of police and judicial cooperation, better training of investigators and a stronger focus on the fight against corruption in the EU enlargement process and development policy .
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