“Corruption contributes to the deterioration of democratic values and constitutes a threat to the good governance and functioning of the state. Conflicts of interest is one of its most common forms and encompasses a broad range of issues, such as recruitment, the acceptance of gifts, or influencing public procurement,” stated Andrew DAWSON (United Kingdom, ECR), presenting, on behalf of the rapporteur Peter JOHN (United Kingdom, SOC), the draft report on ‘Conflicts of Interest at local and regional level” at the Governance Committee meeting, in Covasna County, Romania, on 30 May 2018.
“A conflict or the appearance of a conflict of interest occurs in situations where an individual has direct or indirect personal interests that may interfere with the public interest,” he explained, underlining that local and regional authorities are especially vulnerable to corruption regarding their responsibilities.
The report approved by the Governance Committee proposes a set of rules and standards such as disclosure of interests and concrete measures to monitor them, with sanctions for non-compliance.
“We need to develop bottom-up processes which are not based on pure law, compliance and penalty, but also on preventing conflicts of interest from happening,” stated Mr. DAWSON.
The report encourages local and regional authorities to set up independent ethics committees to review the financial activity of members, and to accompany the disclosure policies by appropriate means, in particular through e-systems and human resource mechanisms. It also calls on governments and parliaments of member states to specify in a clear definition exactly what constitutes a conflict of interest.
This report is part of the Roadmap for Preventing Corruption and Promoting Public Ethics at Local and Regional Level, adopted by the Congress in 2016. It will be examined for adoption during the 35th Congress Session, in November 2018.
