Council of Europe: GRECO 22nd General Activity Report

Council of Europe anti-corruption body, the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), has issued its 22nd General Activity Report (2021) on anti-corruption trends, challenges and good practices in Europe & the United States of America.

The publication opens with the featured essay: “Corruption and Human Rights – Exploring the Relationship” in which author, Matthew C. Stephenson, describes the interdependence of anticorruption and human rights. The report then reviews the measures to prevent corruption taken in GRECO’s member states in 2021 under its 5th evaluation round, which focuses on central governments – including top executive functions - and law enforcement agencies. It also examines GRECO’s activity under its 4th evaluation round - which concerns parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors.

GRECO acknowledges that lobbying is a legitimate activity and it can contribute to the democratic process and well-informed decision-making. At the same time, it stresses that, in order to keep the processes legitimate, the essential anti-corruption standards have to be fully respected.

The Group of States against Corruption is a Council of Europe body responsible for monitoring the compliance of its member states with anti-corruption standards to improve their capacity to fight corruption. GRECO helps to identify deficiencies in national anti-corruption policies, prompting the necessary legislative, institutional and practical reforms.