Gudrun Mosler-Törnström: “Preventing and combating corruption is an imperative for anchoring decentralisation in Europe”

Speaking at the conference on “The role of local and regional authorities in preventing corruption and promoting good governance” in Brussels on 28 February 2017, Congress President Gudrun Mosler-Törnström reaffirmed the Congress commitment in this field, in particular, through its “Roadmap of activities for preventing corruption and promoting public ethics at local and regional levels” adopted in 2016. This is a comprehensive and long-term approach to corruption prevention, which promotes rigorous governance frameworks and the development of common standards.

“While local and regional authorities have seen their budgets and competences increase, control and disciplinary mechanisms are still lacking, opening the doors for possible abuse,” explained the Congress President. “There is a strong link between the behaviour of elected representatives and the quality of governance”, she added mentioning the “European Code of Conduct for the political integrity of local and regional elected representatives”, which set out general principles governing public duties and which is currently under revision.

She also stressed the importance of exchanging good practices, and promoting measures fostering openness and transparency, such as the release and the re-use of public data. In this regard, a report on “Open data for better public services” will be adopted by the Congress at its next session (28-30 March 2017).

The Congress President also welcomed the strengthened co-operation between the European Committee of the Regions and the Congress to set new standards in the field of preventing corruption at local and regional levels.