The Council of Europe through the Action on “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime” in Central Asia (CA TAEC) supported the Anti-corruption Agencies (ACA) and other authorities of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan by organising an exchange visit in Strasbourg and Paris on 2-5 April 2024.
The exchange visit was organised to provide a direct communication platform between ACAs of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as well as nine anti-corruption bodies from Council of Europe Member States, including Croatia, France, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Malta and the United Kingdom. Through presentations and discussions in the first part of the visit in Strasbourg the representatives of anti-corruption authorities from both beneficiary countries became more familiar with the Council of Europe system, standards and instruments against economic crime and corruption, including Council of Europe’s Criminal and Civil Law conventions and its anti-corruption monitoring body - the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). They also discussed in detail the implementation and challenges regarding the success factors for ACAs, anti-corruption strategies and action plans, the strategic management of anti-corruption, coordination of anti-corruption actions nationally amongst levels of government and departments, international cooperation against corruption, preventing conflicts of interest, assets and interests disclosure, oversight mechanisms and sanctions in managing and monitoring conflicts of interests and the protection of whistleblowers.
In the second part of the activity, the participants of both delegations had an opportunity to visit and exchange with La Haute Autorité pour la transparence de la vie publique (HATVP) and L’Agence française anticorruption (AFA) in Paris. The discussions and exchange with the HATVP focused on the organisation, powers and features of the HATVP, the implementation of declaration of assets and interest from French public officials, lobbying and revolving doors. The meetings at AFA focused on sustaining integrity in the private sector and managing public sector integrity in France and the participants were provided with in depth information about the experience and practices of AFA.
Throughout these exchanges the participating ACAs of both beneficiary countries have become more aware of good practices and shared challenges in the selected topics and they have been equipped with knowledge and experiences of others on the strategic management of anti-corruption, coordination and international cooperation against corruption, integrity in the public sector; managing conflicts of interest and protection of whistleblowers. The visit also helped the participants to establish informal networks for anticorruption cooperation and coordination in the future.
This activity was organised by the Action on “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime” in the framework of the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2024, a joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the latter. The Action is aimed at strengthening capacities to fight and prevent economic crime in five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan).
