Council of Europe

• Council of Europe
• Human Rights and Rule of Law
• Group of States against corruption (GRECO)

Mutual evaluation

GRECO evaluation procedures involve the collection of information through questionnaire(s), on-site country visits enabling evaluation teams to solicit further information during high-level discussions with domestic key players, and drafting of evaluation reports. These reports, which are examined and adopted by GRECO, contain recommendations to the evaluated countries in order to improve their level of compliance with the provisions under consideration. Measures taken to implement recommendations are subsequently assessed by GRECO under a separate compliance procedure.

So far GRECO has launched four evaluation rounds dealing with specific provisions of the Twenty Guiding Principles (and associated provisions of the Criminal Law Convention). They include:
 

	independence, specialisation and means available to national bodies engaged in the prevention and fight against corruption
	extent and scope of immunities
	identification, seizure and confiscation of corruption proceeds
	public administration and corruption (auditing systems; conflicts of interest)
	efficiency and transparency with regard to corruption
	prevention of legal persons being used as shields for corruption
	tax and financial legislation to counter corruption
	links between corruption, organised crime and money laundering
	the incriminations provided for in the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, its Additional Protocol and Guiding Principle 2
	transparency of party funding as understood by reference to the Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation on Common Rules against Corruption in the Funding of Political Parties and Electoral Campaigns (Rec(2003)4).

GRECO’s Fourth Evaluation Round (launched in January 2012) deals with the prevention of corruption in respect of Members of Parliament, Judges and Prosecutors:

ethical principles and rules of conduct
conflict of interest
prohibition or restriction of certain activities
declaration of assets, income, liabilities and interests
enforcement of the rules regarding conflicts of interest
awareness.

 
Evaluation procedures: See Title II of the Rules of procedure

Link to the reports: First Evaluation Round / Second Evaluation Round / Third Evaluation Round / Fourth Evaluation Round