Casa appointed to lead role on milestone EU anti-corruption law

As the EPP’s rapporteur on the file, following his appointment to the role within the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs MEP David Casa will negotiate an EU effort to combat corruption across the bloc. This will be done through a directive setting minimum standards to tackle a range of crimes related to corruption.

“For years, people in Malta have been asking why the EU was so sluggish on corruption,” Casa acknowledged. “With this directive we will continue to answer the pressing need to clean up politics even through regulation at European level.”

Casa will represent the biggest political group in the European Parliament to help secure a deal introducing a range of new anti-corruption obligations, in particular binding member states to introduce criminal sanctions for corrupt behaviour if these did not exist in national law before.

The head of the Maltese delegation in the EPP recalled the public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. That ‘when the board [of enquiry] heard evidence of attempts by public officials both to pervert the course of justice as well as to obstruct it’.

“And yet, obstruction of justice is still not a crime in Malta,” Casa noted. “This is yet another unaddressed loophole fuelling impunity for criminals.

“With this directive combatting corruption, we are delivering actual change at an EU level that our voters asked for, to bind government to close these gaps in law and in practice,” Casa charged.

The law reflects the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) to which the EU is a signatory.

He thanked former Renew and EPP MEPs Ramona Strugariu and Nuno Melo for their work in establishing a strong Parliament position ahead of the upcoming trilogue negotiations.