Octopus Interface 2006

Conference on “Corruption and Democracy”

20-21 November 2006, Palais de l’Europe, Strasbourg, France
 Democracies in Europe are confronted with numerous challenges, ranging from the impact of globalisation and threats to security, to the erosion of democratic decision-making and the declining trust and participation of citizens in democratic institutions. Corruption appears to be an important factor in this respect, thus representing a threat to the future of democracy.

The aims of the Conference were :

To identify the risks that corruption poses to the future of democracy in Europe

To share experience and good practice to prevent corruption from undermining democracy

To determine whether current anti-corruption standards are sufficient to meet the challenges ahead or whether additional work would be required by the Council of Europe and other organisations

The following issues were on the agenda:

Political finance
Lobbying
Conflicts of interest
Corruption, justice and democracy

Results:

The Octopus Interface Conference provided a platform for more than 120 public and private sector experts from 45 countries, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, research institutions and the media to identify the risks that corruption poses to the future of democracy in Europe, to share good practices aimed at preventing corruption from undermining democracy, and to determine further efforts that should be undertaken to meet the challenges ahead.

 The meeting was opened by Guy De Vel (Director General of Legal Affairs of the Council of Europe), and addressed by
Siim Kallas (Vice-President of the European Commission), Mikhael Grishankov (Chairman of the Anti-corruption Commission of the State Duma of the Russian Federation), Piero Grasso (National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor of Italy) and other distinguished speakers. Following plenary and workshop discussions participants adopted a set of CONCLUSIONS.