Members of the European Parliament push to include cryptocurrency assets in the anti-corruption agenda

Members of the European Parliament are calling on the European Commission to include corruption risks related to crypto assets, opaque ownership structures, and digital tools in the upcoming anti-corruption strategy. The European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution on Thursday, outlining the policy focus of this strategy.

Members also urged for enhanced tracking, freezing, confiscation, and recovery of criminal proceeds, as well as improvements to public procurement, conflict of interest, lobbying, and political financing rules, and stronger protections for whistleblowers and investigative journalists. The European Commission plans to adopt its first anti-corruption strategy by the end of 2026. This strategy will complement the EU anti-corruption directive that came into effect in May, which standardized the definitions of corruption crimes and minimum penalty standards among member states.