State capture is a combination of different forms of corruption which have a single objective: to secure wholesale and long-term privileges to captors by exploiting the power of government for private benefit. This phenomenon is a specific security risk for the EU. The European Commission (EC) recently published a communication on the need to further strengthen the rule of law in the EU Member States (MSs) aiming to improve its existing policy instruments. Nevertheless, there is a lack of proper prevention and detection tools in place to curb corruption effectively in its many forms and across the different jurisdictions in the EU. While state capture problems vary in substance and intensity among MSs, the negative impact of corruption is felt across the EU. As corrupt practices evolve, EU Member States need to respond by deepening their capacity to tackle new and more complex forms but also to better share existing knowledge.