The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has terminated its 5th round compliance procedure concerning Iceland, in light of the progress achieved in implementing recommendations on preventing corruption within top executive functions in central government and law enforcement agencies.
In a report published today, GRECO concludes that Iceland has satisfactorily implemented thirteen of the eighteen recommendations contained in GRECO’s 5th Round Evaluation Report (2018), four have been partly implemented, while one remains unimplemented.
With regard to persons entrusted with top executive functions in government, GRECO acknowledges a number of positive developments. These include the adoption of the Act on Conflicts of Interest in the Government Offices, revision of the relevant codes of ethics, and measures to raise awareness of integrity rules among various categories of public officials, notably through more regular training. In addition, confidential counselling on integrity matters has been put in place for senior government officials, guidelines for their interaction with lobbyists have been adopted, and rules on the submission of declarations of financial interests have been introduced.
GRECO also welcomes the considerable progress made in implementing recommendations addressed to law enforcement agencies. In particular, the role and competences of the National Commissioner for Police have been strengthened, and a comprehensive Integrity Review Policy has been adopted to promote integrity and increase transparency within the Police. Moreover, detailed rules on the protection of whistleblowers have been put in place, and more comprehensive codes of conduct for the Police and the Coast Guard have been adopted.
The creation of a new position of the Police Quality Manager aims to enhance internal quality control, and a revised training programme on ethics and integrity is currently being implemented for the Police and Coast Guard.
GRECO invites the Icelandic authorities to keep it informed of any further developments concerning the full implementation of the outstanding recommendations.
In particular, GRECO looks forward to the introduction of concrete accountability measures, including specific and effective sanctions for possible breaches of integrity rules by persons in top executive functions in the government. Finally, the Icelandic authorities are encouraged to establish clear, transparent and merit-based criteria for the non-renewal of police contracts, and to put in place a more robust risk-management framework governing police officers’ post-employment activities.
