MEPs calls for public contract blacklist

A special European Parliament (EP) committee has called for criminals convicted of serious crimes, including corruption and money laundering, to be banned from tendering for any public contract within the European Union (EU) for at least five years. In a non-binding motion, the EP’s anti-organised crime committee also voted to bar anyone convicted of corruption from standing for election to public office for the same period. The resolution called for mafia membership to be criminalised throughout the EU, and for EU-wide rules to be drafted on the use of confiscated mafia assets for social purposes. The motion, proposed by Italian Christian Democrat MEP Salvatore Iacolino, said: “Stepping up cross-border judicial and police cooperation within the EU and with third countries is vital to protect financial interests in the EU against organised crime, corruption and money laundering.”