Debate: United States sanctions and the Rule of law
Date: THURSDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER 2021
Speaker: Ylva Johansson
Language: EN

She said that investments that enable our children to have a better future must not be allowed to seep away into dark channels, and she said: corruption is not just taxpayers’ money stolen, it is investors scared off, big favours bought by big money and democracy undermined by the powerful. I could not agree more. As Commissioner responsible for Home Affairs, I might add that corruption enables organised crime. When criminals buy people and buy politicians, they buy power. For all these reasons, we are fighting corruption, tooth and nail. To come to your first question, the United States share our commitment to fight corruption. At the recent EU—US Summit on 15 June 2021, both sides confirmed their commitment to defend universal human rights, prevent democratic backsliding and fight corruption. Regarding US sanctions against corruption in any EU Member State, let me say this. The EU does have strong concerns about the US imposing sanctions against EU nationals, especially without prior consultation. It is for the EU Member States to carry out criminal investigations against those responsible for corruption. The EU and US have strengthened their cooperation on sanctions and can discuss potential concerns in the framework of this dialogue. The second part of your question has regard to the fight against corruption. To start with, we are fighting corruption as a criminal threat. As Europol’s Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment shows, 60% of criminal networks engage in corruption. As decided by the Council in May, fighting criminal networks that spread corruption will get special emphasis under the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT), the instrument for EU internal security cooperation.  The fight against corruption is also a key priority under the Commission’s new EU strategy to tackle organised crime. We are protecting those who expose corruption. By the end of this year, Member States must implement the Whistleblower Directive. This directive protects whistleblowers in both the public and the private sector across the EU. The Commission supports Member States in their fight to root out corruption. We have set up a new rule of law mechanism. We are closely monitoring the fight against corruption in an intensive dialogue with Member States. The Commission has already adopted two EU Rule of Law Reports, annual reports that address systematic threats to the rule of law, including corruption. As President von der Leyen announced yesterday, we will introduce specific recommendations to Member States in next year’s Rule of Law Report, which will make the mechanism stronger and sharper.  The country chapter on Bulgaria in this year’s report highlights the US sanctions under the US Global Magnitsky Act, targeting certain Bulgarian citizens for committing acts of corruption, including a former Member of Parliament. Next year’s Rule of Law Report will follow up on this issue as appropriate. Since 2007, the Commission has been monitoring Bulgaria under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. That is the instrument to assist Bulgaria in judicial reform and the fight against organised crime and corruption. Bulgaria is making progress but will need to turn commitments into actions. Any decision on ending the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism will take into account the position of the Council and of this House.  President von der Leyen also made clear yesterday that the Commission will leave no stone unturned to protect EU taxpayers’ money. The Commission will make full use of the new conditionality regime. We can, and will, impose measures on Member States for breaches of the rule of law that undermine the EU budget. Every single euro of the Recovery and Resilience Facility must go to the recovery of our Member States, to the economy and health care, and not a cent must end up in criminal pockets. The Commission will prevent misuse of recovery funds by checking if Member States’ internal control systems are up to the task, and we will fight abuse of recovery funds by carrying out risk—based controls and audits. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is up and running and can investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of criminal offences affecting the Union’s budget, including corruption. When the Commission assesses potential breaches of the rule of law in the Member States, we will take effective and timely cooperation with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office into account. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office will also cooperate with authorities of third countries. In fact, it already has established communications channels with US counterparts. The Commission will do what it can to support this cooperation.  Yesterday’s State of the Union speech once again made clear that the fight against corruption is at the top of our agenda, and I know I can count on you to join us in this fight.