Council of Europe´s anti-corruption group (GRECO) continues to look at the issue of migration from the angle of corruption prevention of the border guards/police. In its recently published 5th Round Evaluation reports on Belgium and Croatia, GRECO covered, among others, corruption prevention of the border guards and issued specific recommendations to the countries concerned.

In the report on Croatia, GRECO recommended, among others, that the practice of paying fines directly in cash to police officers should be abandoned, and that a comprehensive risk assessment of corruption prone activities should be developed. Furthermore, GRECO considered that the Code of Ethics for Police Officers needs to be updated to include all relevant integrity matters and that training of police officers should cover the specificity of their duties and vulnerabilities. In addition, the appointment and promotion processes within the police should include objectivity and transparency of the decisions made and pay particular attention to the representation of women at all levels.

In the case of Belgium, GRECO recommended, among others, that the code of conduct should be updated, and an integrity check must be introduced during the police officer´s career, particularly when officers are being recruited to certain sensitive posts. GRECO considered that the exercise of outside activities must be subject to transparent criteria and effective scrutiny.