Greece, Greek Cypriot administration not fully complying with EU rules on fraud: EU Commission

Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration have not fully complied with EU rules on how to combat fraud, the EU Commission said on Wednesday.

The commission said in a statement that it decided to send a reasoned opinion to Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration for failing to correctly transpose into their national legislation on fighting fraud and protecting the union's budget by means of criminal law.

Noting that the commission had sent formal notices to Greece in December 2021 and to the Greek Cypriot administration in February 2022, it said:

"After analysing their replies, the Commission considered that Greece has failed to correctly transpose the provisions of the Directive which provide a definition of 'passive corruption' and of 'public official'."

The commission also concluded that the Greek Cypriot administration had not fully defined the liability of companies or set clear rules for prosecuting money laundering.