International newsletter of the HATVP – September-October 2024
On 17 September 2024, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission elected for a second term, presented a list of 27 Commissioners-designate for a five-year term.
On 10-11 October 2024, the European Network for Public Ethics (ENPE) brought together fourteen of its members in Rome, Italy, for an international conference on “Preventing Corruption in Europe, a New Perspective”.
In addition, the Council of Europe published several evaluation reports on European countries in the fight against corruption in September and October.
EUROPEAN UNION (EU)
On 17 September 2024, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission elected for a second term, presented a list of 27 Commissioners-designate for a five-year term, including 11 women and 16 men. The Commissioners-designate will be heard during public hearings at the European Parliament from 4 to 12 November 2024 before being submitted to a vote of approval by MEPs. The hearings of the Commissioners will allow to verify whether the Commissioners are fit to occupy the positions to which they are assigned. (Le Monde, 17 September 2024)
The European Commission wants to extend the obligations linked to the lobby transparency register. This project features in the mission letter sent on 17 September 2024 to the future European Commissioner responsible for transparency, the Slovak Maroš Šefčovič. Since 2014, European Commissioners, members of their cabinet and directors-general of the administration must only meet with lobbyists registered in the transparency register and these meetings must be made public. The mission letter specifies that these obligations must be extended to « all managers » of the Commission. Maroš Šefčovič is also invited to « coordinate » a future revision, by mid-2025, of the agreement between institutions (Commission, Parliament and Council) governing the register. (Contexte, 19 September 2024)
The European Commission published on 30 October 2024 its annual reports on the progress of discussions with the nine countries that have started the EU accession process, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Turkey. These various recommendations are to be studied shortly by the Member States within the Council of the EU. (European Commission, 30 October 2024)
On 2 October 2024, the Conference of Presidents (the President of the Parliament and the leaders of the political groups) approved the schedule for the hearings of the Commissioners-designate, which will take place from 4 to 12 November. Once the hearings are over, the President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will present the full College of Commissioners and its programme in plenary. The full European Commission needs the approval of the Parliament (by a majority of the votes cast, by roll call). Once elected by the Parliament, the European Commission is formally appointed by the European Council, acting by a qualified majority. (European Parliament, 2 October 2024)
On 25 September 2024, the European Ombudsman asked the European Commission to make public the opinions of the independent Ethics Committee on new post-mandate jobs envisaged by European Commissioners. Former Commissioners are required to give the Commission two months’ notice when they intend to take up a professional activity in the two years following their departure. If the activity is related to the former Commissioner’s portfolio, the Commission consults the independent Ethics Committee before taking a decision. Under the Commission’s current practice, if a Commissioner withdraws his or her request for approval following a negative opinion from the Ethics Committee, the Commission does not publish the Committee’s opinion. The Ombudsman hopes that the publication of such opinions will improve transparency and citizens’ trust in public officials. (European Ombudsman, 25 October 2024)
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
Council of Europe
On 6 September 2024, GRECO (Group of States against Corruption) published its first and second round compliance report on Kazakhstan on the independence, powers and means of national bodies responsible for preventing and combating corruption. GRECO welcomes the legislative and institutional measures taken. However, it indicates that broader institutional reforms are needed to strengthen the independence of the judiciary, the prosecution service and law enforcement authorities from the overall control exercised by the supreme political/executive branch, in particular with the President of the Republic. GRECO recommends the establishment of an authority responsible for the controls and verifications of declarations submitted by public officials. (Council of Europe, 6 September 2024)
On 24 September 2024, GRECO published a compliance report on Ireland, assessing the country’s progress in implementing the recommendations of GRECO’s 2022 evaluation report on preventing corruption and promoting integrity in central government (senior executive functions) and law enforcement agencies. GRECO welcomed the proposed reform of the legal framework on ethics in public life, which provides for the development by the Standards Committee of a model code of conduct on the basis of which public bodies will draft the code for their officials. GRECO also noted the adoption of the Regulation of Lobbying and Allowances of Members of Parliament Act 2023, which introduces new sanctions, including for non-compliance with the existing provisions on the period of restriction imposed after the cessation of a mandate. (Council of Europe, 24 September 2024).
On 17 October 2024, GRECO published its second compliance report of the 4th evaluation round on Switzerland, dealing with the prevention of corruption of parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors. GRECO regrets that parliamentarians still do not have a dedicated integrity advisory body and do not follow training on this topic. Their declarations of interests still do not contain quantitative data or information on their liabilities and are still not subject to control by the services of Parliament. With regard to judges, the courts of the Confederation are well on the way to completing the implementation of the recommendation on rules of professional conduct and awareness-raising on these issues. (Council of Europe, 17 October 2024)
On 11 October 2024, the seventh annual general conference of the International Partnership against Corruption in Sport (IPACS) took place in Rome in a hybrid format. 125 participants discussed the impact of artificial intelligence in the fight against corruption in sport, progress made in good governance in sports organisations, enhanced cooperation between law enforcement, criminal justice authorities and sports organisations, notably highlighted during the Paris Olympic Games. (Council of Europe, 11 October 2024)
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS
The G20 summit in Rio, Brazil, on 18-19 November 2024, would be an opportunity to advance reforms in support of financial integrity, according to a study published on 8 October 2024 by Transparency International. The study describes the ways in which corruption undermines sustainable development and efforts to reduce inequality and calls on the G20 to take several actions such as ending bank secrecy, establishing effective transparency regimes, effectively regulating the financial system, strengthening international cooperation and sharing intelligence to better prevent, detect and prosecute cross-border corruption. (Transparency International, 8 October 2024)
NETWORKS
On 10 and 11 October 2024, the European Network for Public Ethics (ENPE), created in June 2022 at the initiative of the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP) to promote a culture of public integrity, met in Rome in the presence of 14 of its members. The Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC) organised a conference on “Preventing Corruption in Europe: A New Perspective” held at the Temple of Hadrian. The meeting resulted in the election of Italy, for two years, to the presidency of the Network, succeeding the French presidency. The members also adopted the Rome Declaration in support of the preventive measures of the Anti-Corruption Directive. The following day, during the plenary meeting of the Network, which welcomed Spain as a new member, participants exchanged on the different practices in the detection and management of conflicts of interest. (HATVP, 10 October 2024)
GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS
PERU
Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo was sentenced on 21 October 2024 to twenty years and six months in prison by a Lima court for corruption and money laundering in the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht scandal. He was found guilty of receiving tens of millions of dollars from the Brazilian company in exchange for the award of public contracts. (RFI, 22 October 2024)
On 17 September 2024, Senegal created a financial judicial centre to fight corruption. Twenty-seven magistrates specialised in the fight against corruption and economic crimes were officially installed within the financial judicial centre, replacing the Court for the Repression of Illicit Enrichment (CREI) created in 1981 and whose prerogatives were more limited. This structure will be responsible in particular for examining complaints for corruption, embezzlement of public funds, money laundering and financing of terrorism. (RFI, 18 September 2024)
On 14 October 2024, the Russian courts sentenced French researcher Laurent Vinatier to three years in prison. He had been detained since June 2024 and was accused of failing to register as a “foreign agent.” This researcher, who specialises in post-Soviet space, was employed on Russian soil by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Swiss non-governmental organisation operating in the field of conflict mediation outside official diplomatic channels. (Le Monde , 14 October 2024)
On 11 September 2024, the far-right Renaissance party submitted a bill on “foreign agents” to the Bulgarian parliament, modelled on a Russian law. According to Renaissance, the bill aims to ensure transparency in public life in the country and protect Bulgaria’s national interests. The party proposes registering all individuals and organizations, including officials and political parties, that receive funding from abroad. The pro-Russian party, campaigning for the early legislative elections on 27 October, is multiplying its attacks against the European Union. The conservative party finally won the elections but without a majority. (Euractiv, 11 September 2024; France 24, 28 October 2024)
GEORGIA
In Georgia, according to the results announced on 27 October 2024 by the Electoral Commission, Georgian Dream, the pro-Russian party in power since 2012, came out on top in the legislative elections with 54% of the vote. The coalition of four pro-Western parties is contesting these results, alleging widespread fraud. (Les Echos, 27 October 2024)
On 21 October 2024, after a narrow victory of 50.43% of the vote in the referendum for Moldova’s entry into the European Union, Brussels denounced « unprecedented interference » by Russia. In recent months, the police have carried out 350 searches and arrested hundreds of suspects accused of wanting to disrupt the electoral process on behalf of Moscow. A vote-buying system was revealed, targeting up to a quarter of the voters expected to vote in the country. Maia Sandu, the outgoing pro-European head of State, came out on top on 20 October 2024 in the first round of the presidential election. She will face Alexandr Stoianoglo, supported by pro-Russian socialists. ( Le Monde, 21 October 2024 ).