The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has acknowledged the progress achieved by the Republic of Moldova in setting up an institutional and legal framework to promote integrity and prevent corruption in the top executive functions of the central government and its law enforcement agencies, but has also called for improvement in several areas.
GRECO’s Fifth Round Evaluation Report on the Republic of Moldova, released today, evaluates the effectiveness of measures in place to prevent and combat corruption in top executive functions such as the President, the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers, Secretaries of State, State Secretaries of the Government, the Secretary General of the President’s Office, the Secretary General of the Government, Presidential Advisers and Ministerial Advisers, and in staff members of the Police and the Border Police.
GRECO recognises that Moldova has developed an institutional integrity framework consisting of the National Anti-corruption Centre, the National Integrity Authority (ANI), and the Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office. A National Integrity and Anti-corruption Strategy is also in place. Its integrity legal framework comprises several laws regulating issues such as the assessment of institutional integrity, the management of institutional corruption risks, and the declaration and verification of assets and personal interests, etc. A new law on access to public-interest information came into force in January 2024, and a law on the protection of whistle-blowers came into effect in October 2023.
The report identifies a number of areas where improvement is needed. The authorities should adopt a code of conduct for persons with top executive functions (PTEFs) to cover all relevant integrity matters and set up a credible and effective mechanism to monitor and enforce it. Dedicated awareness-raising trainings and confidential counselling must be made available to PTEFs.
The report notes that lobbying is not regulated per se and that there is no effective oversight of post-employment restrictions in respect of PTEFs, and calls on the authorities to address these shortcomings.
GRECO points out that ANI’s in-depth control of PTEFs’ declarations of assets and personal interests requires significant improvement. An internal oversight mechanism ought to be established to ensure consistency of decisions of ANI’s integrity inspectors as well as an equal and fair distribution of the workload amongst them.
It also considers that the Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office existing mandate and its inadequate resources have impeded the effective prosecution of high-level corruption.
As regards the Police and the Border Police, GRECO calls for the adoption of measures to address the widespread practice of promotions to ad interim managerial positions. Regular vetting of integrity of law enforcement officers is missing. There is also a need to develop dedicated codes of conduct, complemented by practical guidance and an enforcement mechanism. In addition, confidential counselling on ethical and integrity matters should be made available to law enforcement officers.
The authorities are expected to report back to GRECO on the implementation of its 25 recommendations by 30 June 2025, so it can assess the country´s level of compliance.
*unofficial translation, as provided by the authorities
