The reform of the Spanish Criminal Code promoted a few months ago by the Government of Pedro Sánchez, which benefited several Catalan politicians tried for their involvement in the independence process, could have a short life. The maximum penalty provided for the crime of embezzlement of public funds, of four years in cases in which "attenuated rates" are applied, is below the minimum proposed today by the European Commission in the proposal for a directive to fight corruption adopted today by the college of commissioners, which could force Spain to review the Penal Code again, since Brussels proposes that "a maximum prison sentence of at least five years" be applied.
The proposed directive must be negotiated and agreed by the Council of Justice Ministers of the EU and the European Parliament to enter into force. The objective of the initiative, the European Commission explained today, is to harmonize the definition and harmonization of penalties for all crimes related to corruption. Currently, Community legislation only covers the crime of bribery. With the new proposal for a directive, misappropriation, influence peddling and abuse of functions, money laundering, obstruction of justice and illicit enrichment would also be included.
The proposal for a directive defines in its article 9 the crime of embezzlement in the public sector as "the commitment, disbursement, appropriation or use by a public official of assets whose management has been entrusted directly or indirectly against the purpose for which they were intended", when the person in question acts "intentionally". For this crime, as well as for influence peddling and abuse of functions, Brussels proposes that the maximum prison sentences "be at least five years."
The reform adopted in Spain, in force since January 12, maintains the traditional type of embezzlement in article 432 but specifies that there must be a "profit motive" in the appropriation of public assets, and created two "attenuated types", one of them applicable to cases in which "a different public application" is given to the purpose for which a public asset was intended, a variant for which it provides for penalties of between one and four years in prison and two to six years of disqualification. The Government is currently "studying carefully" the text adopted today by the College of European Commissioners. "We are analyzing the proposal, which is very ambitious, broad and will affect many member states if not all," diplomatic sources explain. Depending on the final result of the negotiation, "if changes have to be made, the necessary adjustments will be made in accordance with European legislation."
There is barely one working year left in the legislature (the European Parliament will be dissolved in the spring of 2024 ahead of the elections) so the EU barely has time to close the reform in the current legislature; If an agreement is not reached within this period of time, the dossier would pass into the hands of the new Parliament, thus delaying the negotiation and entry into force of the reform, for which usually one year is given for transposition into national legislation. . It so happens that Spain, where the reform of the crime of embezzlement has been one of the most controversial issues of the current legislature, will be the country in charge of moderating the discussions, since on July 1 it will assume the rotating presidency of the Council of the Union and will chair the meetings of the European Ministers of Justice and the Interior.
The proposal also proposes allowing the EU to sanction citizens of third countries suspected of corruption, which in the future will lead to the elaboration of a blacklist of personalities, high-level public figures, including politicians, to whom a regime of specific sanctions to combat serious acts of corruption in third countries. "We are tightening the siege of corruption," said the European Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson, today at a press conference. "This is the first time that we have put the public and private sectors under the same umbrella of law," stressed the former Swedish minister. "Corruption is a threat against democracy," Vice President Margaritas Schinas said for her part.
