10th Anniversary of GRECO
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Speech by Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Strasbourg, 5 October 2009

Ministers,
Secretaries of State,
Ambassadors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Corruption is a mortal threat to democracy and I choose my words carefully. Corrupt practices undermine and may eventually destroy people’s confidence in political institutions and state administration. When this happens there is a risk that democracy will not function, become a charade or simply disappear.

It was therefore natural that, in the early 90s, the Organisation felt the need to engage in a comprehensive action to prevent and combat corruption continent wide. You will remember that Europe at the time was witnessing, on the one hand, the fall of the Berlin wall and, on the other hand, a series of mainly politically-related corruption scandals in a number of Western States.

It is for this reason that our Committee of Ministers approved in 1996 a multidisciplinary, comprehensive, far-reaching and unique Programme of Action against corruption.

Multidisciplinary, because it covers the civil, criminal and administrative legal dimensions of any anti-corruption strategy.

Comprehensive, because it covers prevention, criminalisation, prosecution, civil/criminal/corporate/individual liability, compensation of victims, procurement issues as well as international co-operation.

Far-reaching, because it calls for the adoption of a series of legal instruments, including of a binding nature, to strengthen the international action against this scourge and, more specifically, the Criminal Law Convention and the Civil Law Convention. The Programme of Action also called for the development of a strong monitoring mechanism, which embodies for the first time at the Council of Europe the principles of peer pressure and mutual evaluation. This mechanism is called GRECO and the celebration of its 10th anniversary brings us together today.

It is unique, because it was the first example of transversal work at the Council of Europe, in recognition of the fact that the fight against corruption cannot be handled by law enforcement and criminal law measures alone. To prevent and combat corruption, we also need other measures and new partnerships, including with civil society and the private sector.

Today 45 out of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe are members of GRECO and I urge the remaining two, Liechtenstein and San Marino, to do their utmost to join GRECO as soon as possible. I also want to express my satisfaction with the full participation in GRECO of the United States since 2002.

I am also pleased to inform you that the Committee of Ministers approved a few days ago the draft agreement between Belarus and the Council of Europe concerning the privileges and immunities of the representatives of members of GRECO and members of evaluation teams. This paves the way for the effective participation of Belarus – which is not yet a member of the Organisation but which has acceded to both the Criminal Law and the Civil Law Conventions – in GRECO.

Externally, the Council of Europe’s work against corruption has inspired other institutions, such as the United Nations, in the development of their own legal tools against corruption. I am glad to say that we are not only closely co-operating both with the United Nations and the OECD, but also with the World Bank and the IMF, to use our comparative advantages and strengths, in order to help our member States to prevent and combat corruption. We want to avoid monitoring fatigue in our member states, while at the same time ensuring the respect for the commitments they made under their various international obligations.

Internally, the work of GRECO is also associated with the work carried out by MONEYVAL, which is a Financial Action Task Force-Style Regional Body. Both GRECO and MONEYVAL do a great job in ensuring that financial and non-financial institutions, as well as public authorities, do their utmost to prevent and combat corruption, money laundering and financing of terrorism.

We live in a time when international institutions must concentrate on their core values. I cannot think of a better example than GRECO: a pragmatic, specific and effective body which exists to prevent and combat an evil which undermines the very values the Council of Europe was set up to defend and promote.

I know I am not the first one to compare our campaign to the second labour of Hercules, his fight against Hydra, the beast with nine heads. Every time Hercules cut one of its heads off, two heads would grow back. Eventually, Hercules succeeded in defeating the beast but we still have some way to go. There are no irreversible victories in the fight against corruption and we must remain constantly vigilant.

It must never be forgotten that both in political life and in the economic sphere there are powerful factors prompting and encouraging corrupt practices. They include exposure to tough competition and the holding of positions which involve the exercise of considerable power – sometimes compounded by a culture of silence and favouritism.

What is more, the lingering economic and financial crisis with its negative impact on prosperity and employment, is also bound to make the lives of all those who wish to play by the rules more difficult and temptation to circumvent them is there.

It remains therefore essential for States to agree – and continue to agree – to submit themselves to international scrutiny of their efforts to fight corruption.

I am therefore thankful to all members of GRECO for their continued support.

Happy Birthday GRECO! I wish you all the very best in your work for the next 10 years and more!