The European Commission on Thursday expressed doubts about the Italian government’s plan to eliminate the crime of abuse of office as part of the justice reform proposed by Minister Carlo Nordio, Italian news agency ANSA reported, citing Agerpres.

“We are aware of a draft law presented by the cabinet on 15 June 2023 that proposes some changes to the provisions on crimes against public administration,” said a spokesman for the EU executive.

“As explained in the Rule of Law Report 2023, these proposed changes decriminalize important forms of corruption and can have an impact on the effective detection and combating of corruption,” the spokesman added.

“We will continue to monitor the development of events,” said the representative of the Commission.

Why the Italian government wants to eliminate abuse of office

Italy’s justice minister has said he wants to abolish the crime of abuse of office because it is too vague and prevents local politicians and civil servants from participating in projects for fear of being investigated, a situation which, according to with Nordio , causes “economic damage affecting citizens”.

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