News Archive

This FALCON Policy Brief examines how inconsistent implementation and fragmented enforcement of existing EU anti-corruption and anti-money laundering (AML) frameworks limit effective detection and prevention of corruption involving politically exposed persons (PEPs). Fragmented data environments and limited interoperability—combined with increasingly complex financial structures—make it difficult to identify illicit activities, hidden relationships, and conflicts of interest.

In this issue, we look ahead to our Final Event in Vilnius on 8–9 July.

We also share the latest updates from the last few months:

• 5th FALCON Policy Brief on combatting sanction circumvention
• Our Meeting with the General Anti-Corruption Directorate of Romania where we discussed practical applications for our FALCON tools in day-to-day work of LEAs
• 7th FALCON Plenary Meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece

The FALCON Final Event, including our Final Pilot, marks the conclusion of three years of joint anti-corruption research and the development of useful tools for law enforcement. The event will take place on 8th and 9th July 2026 in Vilnius, Lithuania. It represents a milestone for the project, bringing together law enforcement authorities, security practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and technology providers. Participants will explore FALCON‘s final results, engage in live demonstrations of its tools, and discuss future approaches to combating corruption.

Sanction circumvention is increasingly undermining the effectiveness of EU restrictive measures. In its 5th Policy Brief, FALCON outlines key challenges and provides concrete recommendations to strengthen detection, enforcement, and cross-border cooperation. The brief highlights how fragmented data, regulatory inconsistencies, and complex financial networks enable circumvention. It shows that effective enforcement depends on integrated EU-wide data systems, harmonised rules and enforcement, stronger oversight of intermediaries, advanced analytical capabilities, and enhanced cooperation between agencies.

Corruption at borders poses a significant threat to the integrity of the European Union’s external borders, undermining security, trust, and governance. The FALCON project has released its fourth policy brief, outlining actionable recommendations to combat border corruption. These recommendations aim to inform EU policymakers and officials involved in shaping legislation and policy initiatives to strengthen border integrity.

The FALCON project has published its third Policy Brief, offering actionable recommendations to tackle corruption and fraud in public procurement. The brief emphasises the importance of AI-driven tools, enhanced oversight, increased transparency and the use of corruption indicators to strengthen anti-corruption efforts across the EU.

Dive into our highlights of the past few months: Get to know our new partner AFCEA-BG, read our 2nd policy brief, and find out more about our latest progress and the most important events in recent months.

Last week, we held the first meeting with our Stakeholder Community! Representatives from law enforcement, public and private sectors, NGOs, and academia joined to learn about FALCON, its Use Cases, and Key Exploitable Results, while expressing strong interest in testing our tools and contributing their expertise.

On Wednesday, 29 January, we conducted our first pilot. After a first presentation of the tools at the December plenary (see photo), the LEA partners were now able to test the tools extensively and in a more advanced stage at the pilot event.