Back GRECO report: Greece should step up its fight against corruption in politics

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A new report by the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) on Greece finds that transparency in party financing and the incriminations of bribery and trading in influence have not improved further since it last issued a report in June 2015.

Despite recommendations by GRECO to abolish a special statute of limitation for prosecution of members (and former members) of government, for example, the statute remains in place – and is “likely to undermine the public trust”.  

By the same token, previous recommendations to more broadly incriminate bribery of domestic, foreign and international members of public assemblies remain only partially fulfilled, so that possibilities for indirect bribery have been “overlooked”.

A draft amendment enabling anonymous donations of up to 50 euros “re-opens the door to risks connected with the sale of coupons and the excessive use of cash in connection with political financing,” GRECO stressed.

Furthermore, recommendations to require timely publication of private donations to political parties have only been partly realized. While GRECO welcomes the “radical change” making such donations subject to publication requirements, the draft amendments are still in the adoption process.

The Council of Europe established GRECO to monitor compliance with the organization’s anti-corruption standards. GRECO’s objective is to improve the capacity of members to fight corruption by monitoring their compliance with Council of Europe anti-corruption standards through mutual evaluation and peer pressure.

Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) Strasbourg 13 December 2016
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