1st Step: Assessment of EU Legal Instruments for Protecting Financial Interests. Focus on Selected Member States and EPPO Material Competence
(February 2025 – August 2025)
In its 1st step 2024-IT-PIF is aimed:
• to assess the extent of implementation of key EU legal instruments in the realm of the protection of EU’s financial interests, with specific regard to Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Ireland;
• particularly, to analyse the implementation of both the PIF Directive and the Regulation no. 2988/1995;
• to focus confiscation as essential tool to protect EU financial interests in consideration of the Regulation on mutual recognition no. 1805/2018 and the new Directive no. 1260/2024;
• to focus the role of the EPPO in prosecuting PFI crimes and to delve into the many interpretative issues, which concern the Regulation no. 1939/2017;
• to contribute to the debate by elaborating interpretative guidelines for practitioners, reform proposals both at national and EU level, policy recommendations and best practices.
2nd Step: Evaluation of EU Legal Tools to Combat Corruption involving harm to the EU financial interests, including the Proposed Directive COM/2023/234
(September 2025 – January 2026)
In its 2nd step 2024-IT-PIF is aimed:
• to evaluate the implementation of EU legal instruments aimed at combating corruption in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Ireland;
• to face crucial issues such as the scope of the definition of public official and the difficulties in drawing a clear separation between public and private areas in applying bribery offences and corruption related offences;
• to analyse strengths and weaknesses of the new proposal for a Directive on combating corruption (COM/2023/234);
• to identify and assess the anti-corruption measures to be eventually adopted on the basis of the abovementioned proposal in the selected 8 MSs;
• to contribute to the debate by elaborating interpretative guidelines for practitioners, reform proposals both at national and EU level, policy recommendations and best practices.
3rd Step: Anti-Money Laundering and the Protection of EU Financial Interests: An Analysis of AML Measures at EU and National Levels
(February 2026 – August 2026)
In its 3rd step 2024-IT-PIF is aimed to:
• to analyse existing anti-money laundering (AML) legislation at the EU level and its implementation in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Ireland;
• to delve into Know Your Customer (KYC) practices;
• to analyse crucial issues such as the compliance with the ne bis in idem principle with regard to the offence of self-laundering and the challenges raised by new technologies, especially crypto-assets, about the respect of AML laws;
• to analyse the role of organised crime in the commission of PFI offences and to delve into the EU legislation against organised crime, in particular the Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA;
• to contribute to the debate by elaborating interpretative guidelines for practitioners, reform proposals both at national and EU level, policy recommendations and best practices.
4th Step: Evaluation of Corporate Liability Frameworks: Fraud, Corruption, and Money Laundering Across Selected Member States and the need to protect EU financial interests
(September 2026 – January 2027)
In its 4th step 2024-IT-PIF is aimed:
• to evaluate the legal frameworks governing corporate liability for fraud, corruption and money laundering both at the EU and at national level, with particular regard to Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Ireland;
• to focus the role of compliance programms as an essential instrument to protect EU financial interests;
• to analyse the role of freezing and confiscation orders issued against corporations with the aim to combat fraud, corruption and money laundering;
• to detect other crucial issues such as the matter of pre-trial agreements between Prosecutors and corporations;
• to contribute to the debate by elaborating interpretative guidelines for practitioners, reform proposals both at national and EU level, policy recommendations and best practices.
5th Step: Mutual learning, Policy Recommendations and Dissemination of outputs
(August 2025 – January 2027)
In its 5th step 2024-IT-PIF is aimed:
- to share with all the MSs the outputs of the research and the relevant best practices;
- to promote mutual learning among all MSs on the project’s results;
- to build awareness and support for the project and its objectives among key stakeholders (e.g. Ministries of Justice, EPPO national offices, National Bar Associations);
- to develop general policy recommendations for EU and MSs;
- to disseminate the project’s results in the policy, scientific and wider stakeholder community.