The Council of Europe’s Group of states against corruption (GRECO) has decided to close its fifth round compliance procedure in respect of Finland, recognising the progress made in implementing anti-corruption reforms concerning senior positions in central government and law-enforcement agencies.
In a report published today, GRECO concludes that Finland has satisfactorily implemented or dealt with in a satisfactory manner 11 of the 14 recommendations contained in the fifth evaluation round report. The remaining three recommendations have been partly implemented.
Steps taken to deal with conflicts of interest
Visible progress has been achieved with regard to individuals in senior positions notably across several key areas. A system of confidential counselling for senior civil servants and people in management positions appears to be in place. Enforcement and sanction mechanisms are set out in various laws and integrity training has been provided, with additional training sessions planned for 2026.
GRECO also welcomes the preventive measures introduced to review and manage the disclosure of pre-employment and post-employment conflicts of interest of individuals in senior positions, by standardising the content of declaration of assets and interests.
Furthermore, the National anti-corruption strategy and action plan for 2025-27 is expected to address the outstanding recommendations on consolidation of integrity rules for ministers.
Finland fully compliant regarding law enforcement
With respect to law-enforcement agencies, GRECO concludes that all recommendations have been fully implemented.
An action plan has been adopted to complement the implementation of the police’s anti-corruption policy, and the border guard is updating its existing anti-corruption programme.
Ethical leadership training has been provided to senior police management, and several confidential counselling channels are now available to police staff. In addition, whistleblower protection has been strengthened in law, accompanied by training delivered across all levels of command.
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The Group of states against corruption (GRECO) is a Council of Europe body that aims to improve the capacity of its members to fight corruption by monitoring their compliance with anti-corruption standards. It helps states to identify deficiencies in national anti-corruption policies, prompting the necessary legislative, institutional and practical reforms. It comprises the 46 Council of Europe member states, Kazakhstan and the United States of America.
Finland and the Council of Europe
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