Corruption is estimated to cost the economy of the EU €120 billion per year. Therefore, the Commission sets up a new mechanism, the EU Anti-Corruption Report, to monitor and assess Member States' efforts against corruption and encourage more political engagement. This will help Member States to better enforce legislation and fully implement their international commitments, as well as to improve the coherence of their anti-corruption policies and actions.

With regard to this new package of measures, Cecilia Malmström, Commissioner for Home Affairs, highlighted that the Anti-Corruption Report can generate the political will to act by giving a clear picture of anti-corruption efforts and achievements, but also pointing out failures and vulnerabilities across the 27 EU Member States. The Home Affairs Commissioner also announced further actions in the coming years, such as new rules for confiscating criminal assets, a plan for how to improve the gathering of crime statistics, and an strategy to improve criminal financial investigations in Member States.

The anti-corruption package adopted consists of:

• A Communication on fighting corruption in the EU, which presents the objectives of the EU Anti-Corruption Report and the practical aspects of its functioning. The Communication also explains how the EU should place greater emphasis on corruption in all relevant internal and external policies;
• A Commission Decision establishing this EU anti-corruption reporting mechanism;
• A Report on the implementation of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA on combating corruption in the private sector;
• A Report on the modalities of EU participation in the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).

These measures are part of a wider agenda to protect Europe's licit economy, as set out in the EU Internal Security Strategy in Action presented by the Commission in November 2010. The core of the initiatives is the establishment of a new evaluation mechanism to assess anti-corruption efforts in the EU. This EU Anti-Corruption Report will identify trends and weaknesses that need to be addressed, as well as stimulate peer learning and exchange of best practices. It will be issued by the Commission every two years, starting in 2013, and be based on inputs from a variety of sources, including the existing monitoring mechanisms (by the Council of Europe, the OECD and the United Nations), independent experts, stakeholders and civil society.

In parallel, the EU should negotiate its participation in the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) to create synergies between both mechanisms. However, in order to be efficient Member States should better implement the anti-corruption legal instruments already in place at the European and international level.