Article 29 of the Treaty states that the objective of the Union to provide citizens with a high level of safety within an area of freedom, security and justice is to be achieved by preventing and combating crime, organised or otherwise, including corruption and fraud.

The European Union strategy for the beginning of the new millennium on the prevention and control of organised crime emphasises the need to develop a comprehensive EU policy against corruption.

In its Resolution of 14 April 2005 concerning a comprehensive EU policy against corruption, which refers to the communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee of 28 May 2003 on a Comprehensive EU Policy against Corruption, the Council reaffirms the importance of the role and work of the Member States in developing a comprehensive, multi-faceted policy against corruption in both the public and private sectors, in partnership with all relevant players from civil society and business alike.

The heads and key representatives of EU Member States' national police monitoring and inspection bodies and those of their anti-corruption agencies with a wider remit met in November 2004 in Vienna at the AGIS conference on the Enhancement of Operational Cooperation in Fighting Corruption in the European Union. They emphasised the importance of further enhancing their cooperation, inter alia, through annual meetings, and welcomed the idea of a European anti-corruption network based upon existing structures. In the wake of the Vienna conference these European Partners Against Corruption (EPAC) met in Budapest in November 2006 for their sixth annual meeting, where with an overwhelming majority, they confirmed their commitment to supporting the initiative on setting up a more formal anti-corruption network.

In order to build upon existing structures, the authorities and agencies to form part of the European anti-corruption network could include EPAC member organisations.