Following the model of the blacklist used against Russian figures involved in the invasion of Ukraine, the European Union wants to apply sanctions to people involved in corrupt practices around the world, reports Le Soir, as cited by Rador.

On Wednesday, the European Commission presented proposals for the harmonization of criminal provisions on the fight against corruption in the EU, as well as for adding to the “black list” of European sanctions the authors of corrupt acts anywhere in the world.

“We are sending a clear message: the EU is not open to those who engage in corruption, wherever it occurs,” said the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell.

“Corruption can threaten international peace and security, fuel organized crime, terrorism and other crimes. Therefore, we are expanding the field of action to fight corruption around the world,” he said at the press conference.

According to the legal framework proposed by the Commission, which still has to be approved on 27, those people who are considered to be involved in “serious corrupt activities”, regardless of their nationality, can have their assets frozen in the EU and remain in the European territory can be prohibited. They will also be deprived of access to the financial resources of some individuals or legal entities in the EU.

This mechanism targets passive or active corruption, the embezzlement of funds by a state agent, especially in countries that are considered fiscally uncooperative or unable to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.

It would be a “system similar” to the sanctions regimes adopted, for example, against Russians involved in the invasion of Ukraine and included in the EU’s “black list”, but the difference is that “it is no longer about this”. targeting a specific third country”, but individuals, whoever they are, said Vice-President of the Commission Vira Jourova.

“Magnitsky’s Law”

The mechanism is related to the United States’ “Magnitsky Act,” which was first enacted in 2012 to punish Russians accused of complicity in the custodial death of a whistleblower lawyer, then extended in 2016 to all suspected human rights abuses or important acts of corruption in the world.

At the end of 2020, the EU already had the ability to apply sanctions to those responsible for “serious violations of human rights” around the world. In practice, adding a person to this anti-corruption blacklist would be officially proposed by the head of EU diplomacy and would have to be unanimously approved by 27.

“We cannot target all the corrupt in third countries. There is always a certain degree of political evaluation”, but in order to put someone on the list, “it would be necessary to have information that indicates that this person has committed a serious act of corruption”, be it open sources (media, public statements…), the reports of some scientists or non-governmental organizations, the information collected by the intelligence services of the member states, the Commission ascertains. The interested person will be able to appeal the decision in the European Court.