TITLE II CRIMINAL OFFENCES WITH REGARD TO FRAUD AFFECTING THE UNION'S FINANCIAL INTERESTS

Article 3 Fraud affecting the Union's financial interests
1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that fraud affecting the Union's financial interests constitutes a criminal offence when committed intentionally.
2. For the purposes of this Directive, the following shall be regarded as fraud affecting the Union's financial interests:
(a) in respect of non-procurement-related expenditure, any act or omission relating to:
(i) the use or presentation of false, incorrect or incomplete statements or documents, which has as its effect the misappropriation or wrongful retention of funds or assets from the Union budget or budgets managed by the Union, or on its behalf;
(ii) non-disclosure of information in violation of a specific obligation, with the same effect; or
(iii) the misapplication of such funds or assets for purposes other than those for which they were originally granted;
(b) in respect of procurement-related expenditure, at least when committed in order to make an unlawful gain for the perpetrator or another by causing a loss to the Union's financial interests, any act or omission relating to:
(i) the use or presentation of false, incorrect or incomplete statements or documents, which has as its effect the misappropriation or wrongful retention of funds or assets from the Union budget or budgets managed by the Union, or on its behalf;
(ii) non-disclosure of information in violation of a specific obligation, with the same effect; or
(iii) the misapplication of such funds or assets for purposes other than those for which they were originally granted, which damages the Union's financial interests;
(c) in respect of revenue other than revenue arising from VAT own resources referred to in point (d), any act or omission relating to:
(i) the use or presentation of false, incorrect or incomplete statements or documents, which has as its effect the illegal diminution of the resources of the Union budget or budgets managed by the Union, or on its behalf;
(ii) non-disclosure of information in violation of a specific obligation, with the same effect; or
(iii) misapplication of a legally obtained benefit, with the same effect;
(d) in respect of revenue arising from VAT own resources, any act or omission committed in cross-border fraudulent schemes in relation to:
(i) the use or presentation of false, incorrect or incomplete VAT-related statements or documents, which has as an effect the diminution of the resources of the Union budget;
(ii) non-disclosure of VAT-related information in violation of a specific obligation, with the same effect; or
(iii) the presentation of correct VAT-related statements for the purposes of fraudulently disguising the non-payment or wrongful creation of rights to VAT refunds.

Article 4 Other criminal offences affecting the Union's financial interests
1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that money laundering as described in Article 1(3) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 involving property derived from the criminal offences covered by this Directive constitutes a criminal offence.
2. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that passive and active corruption, when committed intentionally, constitute criminal offences.
(a) For the purposes of this Directive, ‘passive corruption’ means the action of a public official who, directly or through an intermediary, requests or receives advantages of any kind, for himself or for a third party, or accepts a promise of such an advantage, to act or to refrain from acting in accordance with his duty or in the exercise of his functions in a way which damages or is likely to damage the Union's financial interests.
(b) For the purposes of this Directive, ‘active corruption’ means the action of a person who promises, offers or gives, directly or through an intermediary, an advantage of any kind to a public official for himself or for a third party for him to act or to refrain from acting in accordance with his duty or in the exercise of his functions in a way which damages or is likely to damage the Union's financial interests.
3. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that misappropriation, when committed intentionally, constitutes a criminal offence.
For the purposes of this Directive, ‘misappropriation’ means the action of a public official who is directly or indirectly entrusted with the management of funds or assets to commit or disburse funds or appropriate or use assets contrary to the purpose for which they were intended in any way which damages the Union's financial interests.
4. For the purposes of this Directive, ‘public official’ means:
(a) a Union official or a national official, including any national official of another Member State and any national official of a third country:
(i) ‘Union official’ means a person who is:
an official or other servant engaged under contract by the Union within the meaning of the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union laid down in Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 (the ‘Staff Regulations’), or
OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, p. 1.
seconded to the Union by a Member State or by any public or private body, who carries out functions equivalent to those performed by Union officials or other servants.
Without prejudice to the provisions on privileges and immunities contained in Protocols No 3 and No 7, Members of the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, set up in accordance with the Treaties and the staff of such bodies shall be assimilated to Union officials, inasmuch as the Staff Regulations do not apply to them;
(ii) ‘national official’ shall be understood by reference to the definition of ‘official’ or ‘public official’ in the national law of the Member State or third country in which the person in question carries out his or her functions.
Nevertheless, in the case of proceedings involving a national official of a Member State, or a national official of a third country, initiated by another Member State, the latter shall not be bound to apply the definition of ‘national official’ except insofar as that definition is compatible with its national law.
The term ‘national official’ shall include any person holding an executive, administrative or judicial office at national, regional or local level. Any person holding a legislative office at national, regional or local level shall be assimilated to a national official;
(b) any other person assigned and exercising a public service function involving the management of or decisions concerning the Union's financial interests in Member States or third countries.