The Council of Europe called on Tuesday, December 14 Germany, admittedly already
"endowed with a solid anti-corruption framework"
, to do better, in particular for the prevention of conflicts of interest likely to affect members of the federal government.
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The anti-corruption measures already taken by Berlin should
"be supplemented to better target specific integrity issues facing holders of high executive positions"
, points out in a report the Group of States against corruption (Greco) , an organ of the Council of Europe.
This one notes
“the lack of transparency”
around possible external influences
“on the agenda”
of the German government, in particular the
“lobbying exerted by people”
who previously occupied
“high positions”
government.
Admittedly, GRECO's report acknowledges that
“Germany has a solid anti-corruption framework”
as well as
“significant efforts to improve transparency”
.
But he calls on Berlin
"to adopt
clear
rules"
so that
"sufficient information"
on the
"interactions"
between
"holders of high executive positions"
and
"lobbyists"
seeking for example to
"influence the legislative and other activities of the government "
are public.
The members of the government
"must publicly declare the conflicts between their private interests and their official functions on a case by case basis"
, as well as their
"financial interests"
, insists the anti-corruption body, of which Germany is a founding country.
However,
"for the time being, there is no obligation to do so,"
further deplores GRECO, which also suggests
"extending"
the waiting period that federal ministers must observe, in particular before accepting a job. in the private sector (it currently varies from 12 to 18 months).
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Furthermore, GRECO welcomes the
“good practice”
that the German federal police have adopted in order to fight corruption within their own ranks, even if, here again, certain points can be improved, such as the
“ background check of new recruits ”
which should be reinforced.
The report also suggests strengthening the protection of whistleblowers, calling for
“going further”
than simply
“protecting their identity”
.
GRECO is a body of the Council of Europe which aims to improve the capacity of its members to fight corruption.
It brings together the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, plus Belarus, Kazakhstan and the United States.