Commission: Greece and Cyprus are in the crosshairs for the fight against black money cases

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The European Commission announced today that it has sent a letter of reasoned opinion to Greece, because it did not correctly transpose into its national law the directive on combating, through criminal law, fraud against the financial interests of the Union (POS directive).

These rules, on the one hand, increase the level of protection of the EU budget by harmonizing the definitions, sanctions and limitation periods of criminal offenses affecting the financial interests of the Union and, on the other hand, lay the foundations for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).

The Commission first sent a letter of warning to Greece in December 2021. After analyzing the responses of the Greek Authorities, the Commission considered that Greece has not correctly transposed into its national law the provisions of the Directive which provide a definition of “passive bribery” and of the “public official”. In addition, the Commission considered that certain provisions notified by Greece provide for rules that limit the effectiveness and deterrence of sanctions provided for criminal offenses falling within the scope of the Directive.

For this reason, the Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion to Greece, which has two months to respond and correct the deficiencies pointed out by the Commission. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union.