Raising The Bar: The EU's New Anti-Corruption Directive

On 21 April 2026, the Council of the European Union gave final approval to a new Directive on combating corruption (the "Directive"). This is a significant move to harmonise the current patchwork of legislation across the EU Member States that applies at present, given that EU measures to date have been high level and directional rather than prescriptive. The Directive will result in a single, harmonised set of criminal offences based on unified definitions, penalties and prevention measures applicable across the public and private sectors, though inpidual Member States can still choose to go further than required by the Directive. The Directive, together with a forthcoming EU Anti-corruption Strategy expected later in 2026, will allow the EU to pursue action against corruption as a key political priority.