27th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Debate within the Chamber of Regions: "Corruption corrodes democracy"

On 14 October 2014 the Chamber of Regions of the Congress held a debate on promoting public ethics and preventing corruption at regional level, during which it examined a number of tangible steps taken by European cities or regions, such as the creation of an anti-fraud office, the adoption of strict rules or the reinforcement of transparency through posting of data on the Internet. The participants also looked at ways of strengthening the legal and political arsenal for combating corruption.

The outgoing President of the Congress, Herwig van Staa (Austria, EPP/CD), has for years been relentlessly combating corruption at the local and regional levels, which he considers to be "corroding the rule of law". In his opening address he underlined that three quarters of EU citizens believe that corruption has become worse in recent years, despite the growing number of instruments aimed at preventing it. As early as 1999, the Congress adopted a "Code of Conduct for the integrity of local and regional elected representatives", and many international, national, regional or local bodies have taken measures to combat corruption… despite which it does not seem to be losing ground.

The President of the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE) and President of the Galician Parliament, Pilar Rojo Noguera (Spain), presented some anti-corruption measures being implemented in her country and stressed the importance of e-democracy in fostering political transparency, and also and above all in bringing citizens and political circles closer together. The parliaments members of the CALRE have all committed themselves to pursuing a programme for the promotion of transparency, based in particular on the use of e-democracy, and some of them, such as the parliament of Galicia, have already promulgated regional legislation on transparency in political decision-making and in appointments to public sector jobs.

A regional anti-fraud office

Four years ago the regional parliament of Catalonia (Spain) set up an anti-fraud office authorised to deal with all cases of public-sector corruption in the region. Describing its functioning, Bruno Gonzalez Valdelievre said that, apart from addressing such cases, the office's activities make it possible to enhance prevention and to "reduce impunity gaps while professionalising public sector management".

Many European cities have laid down specific rules to combat corruption. Tracey Simpson-Laing (United Kingdom), Congress rapporteur on the "Conditions of office of local and regional elected representatives", described the anti-corruption instruments at the disposal of UK cities and regions, indicating that they would moreover be reinforced as from 2016.  In the City of York, where she is an elected representative, Council members are not permitted to participate in discussions of Council business in which they have a personal interest, for example in employment or housing matters. They must also notify all disclosable pecuniary interests and declare gifts or hospitality received in connection with their office. Tracey Simpson-Laing also sees a need for greater transparency in the social networks, as regards both their content and their utilisation: "Some politicians take pseudonyms so as to launch anonymous attacks on their opponents. That is unacceptable. No one has the right to consider themselves above others" she said.

Transparency via on-line data

Presenting the initiatives taken by Hamburg, Sabine Stuppat (Germany, SOC) said the Internet is generally one of the best means of promoting transparency. Her city-state has placed a great deal of information and public data on line. "We are among the European pioneers in this field, and our citizens can follow and monitor all aspects of public life, with the sole limits being posed by the protection of elected representatives' private lives" she explained during the debate.

Concluding the debate, Herwig van Staa called for improved assessment of the effectiveness of non-binding instruments such as charters and codes of conduct, and also of ad hoc anti-corruption bodies such as anti-fraud offices or regional public finance supervisory bodies. He pointed out that "While it must be asked whether all these measures are sufficient, it is also necessary to ensure that national and regional authorities really want to make local and regional government better armed to fight corruption." He invited the Congress to take stock of the most effective anti-corruption tools at the local and regional levels and to identify even more appropriate means of response. He called on Congress to develop a comprehensive strategy to promote ethics and prevent corruption at local and regional levels, as well as to implement a partnership with all stakeholders within the Council of Europe and beyond.