EU Statement on Agenda item 1(f): General Discussion

11^th Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption, Doha, 15-19 December 2025

Distinguished President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, San Marino, United Kingdom and Ukraine align themselves with this statement.

Let me start by wishing you, Mr President, success for your work during this session. We would like to express our thanks to the State of Qatar for hosting this Conference. We would also like to commend you for having dedicated the Doha Declaration to the topic of artificial intelligence and human rights. Developing safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence can be an important asset to prevent and combat corruption based on standards of good governance, democratic values and inclusiveness.

Let me also take this opportunity to reiterate our strong support for the work of UNODC. I would like to thank Executive Director Ghada Waly for her successful tenure at the helm of the organisation and commend the staff of UNODC in Vienna and around the world for demonstrating the value of multilateralism and of the United Nations in the fight against corruption.

President,

We all acknowledge that corruption, in its various manifestations, is highly damaging to society, to democracy, to the economy to the environment and to individuals.

It fundamentally undermines the rule of law and public trust, enables criminal activities such as organised crime and crimes that affect the environment, and diverts public resources hampering fair competition and deepening social and gender inequalities. Corruption furthermore seriously hampers sustainable development and undermines stability across the globe.

It demands a strong, concerted action by all states to repress and prevent corruption, raising awareness, fostering integrity and promoting a culture of integrity and saying no to corruption across societies.

Against that background, the UN Convention against Corruption remains a powerful compass and the only universal reference for all those who fight against corruption on a day-to-day basis, among them prosecutors and judges, journalists and whistleblowers, clean businesses, activists and civil society organisations who translate the Convention's high ideals into concrete actions. We owe them gratitude for their tireless work, and a strong and unified message of encouragement and support.

At the same time, we acknowledge the important role that teachers and educational professionals can play in building a strong culture of integrity and anti-corruption awareness in the long-term, through furthering values such as honesty, fairness and accountability in children and young people from an early age through educational programmes and content.

President,

Combating corruption and illicit financial flows continues to be a priority for the European Union, both for the EU institutions and our Member States.

We just finalised/We are currently finalising the negotiations on the EU Directive on combating corruption by criminal law. Once adopted, this legislation will be a crucial step to modernise the EU's anti-corruption legal framework based on the UN Convention against Corruption, while going beyond it in certain respects. The legislation will harmonise the definitions of the main corruption offences across the Union, ensure effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties, and step up the prevention of corruption.

As announced by President von der Leyen in her State of the Union speech, the Commission is developing the first EU Anti-Corruption Strategy, which will be presented at the end of next year. It will identify and address potential gaps, reinforce monitoring and improve the overall coherence in our ambition to foster integrity and fight corruption. The Strategy will build on the achievements of the Rule of Law Report and the Directive on combating corruption.

President,

The EU remains resolutely committed to supporting anti-corruption efforts in partner countries. International cooperation is a necessity for combatting corruption and illicit financial flows, but it is also an opportunity to share experience and to learn from each other.

Let me highlight two examples in this context. First, as a result of the UNODC CRIMJUST, the Association of Latin American Prosecutors agreed in April on a guide to international criminal cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of corruption. We were honoured to be part of this project.

Second, we have also been closely cooperating with UNODC by preparing a practical toolkit for developing whistleblower protection frameworks. We are convinced that this document, which also draws inspiration from the standards set by the EU Whistleblower Directive, provides a solid basis to develop and improve legislative frameworks around the globe.

The EU will continue to support global anti-corruption efforts, promoting the effective implementation of UNCAC by all Parties. The international nature of corruption requires collective action to fight it efficiently, be it through international cooperation or by continuing to share experiences, best practices and challenges to learn from each other. This holds particularly true in the EU enlargement process. Countries wanting to join the EU need to have solid anti-corruption institutions and policies in place.

We would also like to emphasize the key role of the implementation review mechanism for the effective implementation of the Convention. M. President, we truly hope that this COSP will further the efforts undertaken by States Parties over the last two years with the launch the second phase of the Implementation review mechanism. Taking into account the lessons learned from the 1^st phase, we need a mechanism that is more transparent, inclusive, practical and efficient to be trustworthy and to ensure the effective implementation of the convention.

Finally, it is a great honour for me to announce today that the executive summary of the first cycle of the implementation review for the EU has been published/will be published during the next days. This is an important step for us which underlines our steadfast commitment to the Convention and our ambition to put it into practice. In particular, I would like to thank the reviewers, Niue and Czechia, as well as the UNODC Secretariat for the good cooperation throughout the entire process.

President,

Let me be clear: our commitment to fight corruption remains unequivocal. We look forward to continuing our cooperation with our partners from around the world, and to making a real difference.

Thank you, Mr President.