26 Amendments of Laura FERRARA related to 2023/0135(COD)
Amendment 137 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) Corruption remains a significant problem at the Union level, threatening the stability and security of societies, including by enabling organised and other serious crime. Corruption undermines democratic institutions and universal values on which the Union is founded, particularly the rule of law, democracy, equality and the protection of fundamental rights. It jeopardises development, prosperity and the sustainability and inclusiveness of our economies by facilitating the infiltration of the licit economy by organised crime, including through the award of public procurement contracts and public concessions, and by undermining the proper functioning of the market, underpinned by competition. In order to effectively prevent and combat corruption, a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach is required. The purpose of this Directive is to tackle corruption by means of criminal law, allowing for better cross- border cooperation between competent authorities.
Amendment 156 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 9 a (new)
Recital 9 a (new)
(9a) With a view to further strengthening the European anti- corruption framework and to effectively preventing corruption offences, the notion of conflict of interest needs to be clearly defined and as broadly as possible. This notion should cover all situations in which the impartial and objective exercise of the duties of a person involved in the performance of public functions is compromised for reasons of family, emotional, political or national affinity, economic interest or any other direct or indirect personal interest, whether real or potential, which conflicts with the public functions that the official is entrusted to perform.
Amendment 161 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 9 b (new)
Recital 9 b (new)
(9b) It is also necessary to strengthen transparency and to avoid the phenomenon of the 'revolving door' between the public and private sectors, by imposing restrictions on the exercise of professional activities by former public officials, whether appointed, elected or employed under contract, and on the employment by the private sector of public officials after their resignation or retirement, when such activities or employment are directly related to the duties that they had performed or overseen during their term in office.
Amendment 164 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 9 c (new)
Recital 9 c (new)
(9c) This Directive should lay down minimum standards to increase transparency and bring the laws of the Member States in line with reporting obligations concerning the income and assets of public officials.
Amendment 178 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) Corruption feeds off the motivation for undue economic and other advantages. ÌIn order to reduce the incentive for individuals and criminal organisations to commit new criminal acts and deter individuals from consenting to becoming fake property owners enrichment by corruption offences should be criminalised. This should, in turn, complicate the concealment of illicitly acquired property and reduce the spread of corruption as well as the damage done to society. Transparency helps competent authorities to detect possible illicit enrichment. For example, in jurisdictions whereIt is necessary to ensure maximum transparency as this is crucial to enable the competent authorities to detect possible illicit enrichment. To enable the authorities to assess whether declared assets match declared income, public officials are required tomust declare their assets at regular intervals, including particular when taking up and completing duties, authorities can assess whether the declared assets correspond to declared incomesleaving office.
Amendment 181 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) The competent authorities should be able to impose, in addition or as an alternative to imprisonment, supplementary sanctions or measures, that are not necessarily of a criminal nature, such as the temporary or permanent disqualification from holding public office or the exclusion from public procurement, a ban on holding elected or governmental office or the exclusion from public procurement and the voiding of contracts and appointments awarded in breach of anti-corruption rules. Such measures have a general dissuasive effect and may reduce the recidivism of convicted offenders. Member States should also consider establishing procedures for the suspension or temporary reassignment of a public official accused of a criminal offence as referred to in this Directive, bearing in mind the need to respect the principle of the presumption of innocence and the right to an effective remedy.
Amendment 186 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) In order to ensure that the competent authorities have sufficient time to conduct complex investigations and prosecutions, this Directive provides for a minimum limitation period that enables the detection, investigation, prosecution and judicial decision of corruption offences for a sufficient period of time after the commission of such offences, without affecting those Member States which do not set limitation periods for investigation, prosecution and enforcement. That limitation period should in any event be suspended from the date of issuance of the conviction concluding the first instance of the proceedings or of the conviction order, until the effective date of the judgment concluding the proceedings or the date on which the criminal decree becomes final.
Amendment 187 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) Corruption offences are a difficult category of crime to identify and investigate, as they mostly occur as part of a conspiracy between two or more willing parties and lack an immediate and obvious victim who could complain. Thus, a significant proportion of corruption crime remains undetected, and the criminal parties are able to benefit from the proceeds of their corruption. The longer it takes to detect a corruption offence, the more difficult it is to uncover evidence. Therefore, it should be ensured that law enforcement and prosecutors have appropriate investigative tools to gather relevant evidence of corruption offences which often affect more than one Member State, including wiretaps and evidence collected by undercover agents. Furthermore, Member States should allocate sufficient training, in close coordination with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL), also on the use investigative tools to successfully carry out proceedings and the identification and quantification of proceeds of corruption in the context of freezing and confiscation. In addition, this Directive facilitates the gathering of information and evidence by setting out mitigating circumstances for offenders that help the authorities.
Amendment 215 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point b
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point b
(b) any other person assigned and exercising a public service function or providing a public service in Member States or third countries, for an international organisation or for an international court.
Amendment 218 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point b a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3 – point b a (new)
(ba) any other individual entrusted with public powers or a public service mission or holding an elected public office,
Amendment 234 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 a (new)
8a. ‘Conflict of interest' shall mean any situation in which situation the impartial and objective exercise of the functions of a public official is compromised for reasons of family, emotional, political or national affinity, economic interest or any other direct or indirect, potential or actual personal interest in conflict with the public interest the official is entrusted to serve.
Amendment 237 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 b (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 b (new)
8b. ‘The revolving door’ shall mean the taking-up, receipt or holding, directly or indirectly, by a public official of any interest in an undertaking or transaction for which, at the time of the act, he or she is wholly or partly responsible for the monitoring, administration, liquidation or payment.
Amendment 245 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 2
2. Member States shall take measures to ensure the highest degree of transparency and accountability in public administration and public decision-making with a view to prevent corruption. These measures include a system of staff recruitment and promotion or assignment based on transparent and meritocratic procedures.
Amendment 248 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Member States shall take the necessary measures to limit the use of trustee assignments for personnel entrusted with responsibility for oversight or verification of compliance with the law.
Amendment 270 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 4 – point b a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 4 – point b a (new)
(ba) Effective rules addressing the interaction between the public and private sectors, including the regulation of lobbying and the revolving door. In particular the setting of minimum standards concerning lobbying, including: (i) the concepts of lobbying, lobbyists and public officials subject to the law; (ii) common minimum information to be disclosed regarding lobbyists' meetings with officials; (iii) common minimum requirements to ensure that such information is publicly available.
Amendment 286 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 6 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that a specialised body as defined in Article 4 or another competent authority regularly examines public officials' declarations of assets and financial interests and compares these declarations with what they have declared to the tax authorities. If these examinations reveal the existence of assets undeclared by the public official, Member States shall take the appropriate measures to identify their origin.
Amendment 287 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 6 b (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that cash contributions in excess of EUR 500 per year per donor, or other forms of support of equivalent value, made to political parties and movements are made public and include the identity of the donor, the size of the contribution or the value of the benefit or other form of support and the date of payment by means of an entry in a special register maintained at the registered office of the political party or movement, inclusion in financial statements and publication on the official website of the political party or movement.
Amendment 297 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 3 – point a
Article 4 – paragraph 3 – point a
(a) are functionally independent ofrom the government in accordance with the fundamental principles of the legal system of the Member State and have a sufficient number of qualified staff and the financial, technical and technological resources, as well as the powers and tools necessary to ensure the proper administration of their tasks and to implement the provisions necessary to comply with Articles 3 to 6;
Amendment 329 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(ba) The fact that a public official takes up, receives or retains, directly or indirectly, an interest in an undertaking or transaction undermining his or her impartiality, independence or objectivity for which, at the time of the event, he or she is wholly or partly responsible for the supervision, administration, liquidation or payment.
Amendment 330 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point b b (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point b b (new)
(bb) The fact that a public official, in the course of his or her duties relating either to the supervision and/or control of a private undertaking, or to the conclusion of contracts of any kind with a private undertaking or to the giving of an opinion on such contracts, or to having proposed directly to the competent authority decisions relating to the operations carried out by a private undertaking or to having given an opinion on such decisions, acquired or received an interest by way of employment, advice or capital in one of those undertakings before the expiry of a period of three years from the date on which those duties ceased.
Amendment 384 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 4 – point d
Article 15 – paragraph 4 – point d
(d) deprivation of the right to stand for elections, proportionate to the seriousness of the offence committed; and;
Amendment 395 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point f
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point f
(f) the possibility for public authorities to annul or rescind a contractannulment or rescinding of the contract concluded and the assignments conferred with them, in the context of which the offence was committed;
Amendment 425 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 21 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the limitation period referred to in paragraph 1 is suspended from the date of issuance of the conviction concluding the first instance of the proceedings or of the conviction order, until the effective date of the judgment concluding the proceedings or the date on which the sentencing order becomes final.
Amendment 443 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 23 – paragraph 1
Article 23 – paragraph 1
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that effective investigative tools, such as those used in countering organised crime or other serious crimes, are available to persons, units or services responsible for investigating or prosecuting the criminal offences referred to in this Directive. These tools shall also include the use of wiretapping or electronic devices and the possibility of conducting undercover police operations.
Amendment 465 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 26 – paragraph 1
Article 26 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall collect disaggregated statistical data on each of the criminal offences as referred to in Articles 7 to 14 of this Directive.
Amendment 504 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 29 – paragraph 3 a (new)
Article 29 – paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. The provisions of this Directive shall not affect the right of Member States to apply or introduce more stringent laws, regulations or administrative provisions with regard to transparency requirements and applicable penalties than those laid down in this Directive.