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Mainstreaming anti-corruption policy in the Accession process
VIII Mainstreaming anti-corruption policy in the Accession process
Essentially, much of the responsibility for anti-corruption work and monitoring lies with national actors, including civil society. It is hence essential to help civil society understand that anti-corruption work is not simply an exercise to gain EU membership, but a key to economic, social and political stability.
TI recommends that:
- Clear commitment to mainstreaming anti-corruption, i.e. incorporation of rigorous anti-corruption measures into all reform processes.
- Concrete anti-corruption standards, including indicators and benchmarks, for candidate countries.
- The EU to strive for equal and fair treatment of candidate countries, and seeks to avoid generating competition between states.
- Greater emphasis on measurable implementation, not just adoption, of anti-corruption standards.
- Transparent and rigorous monitoring by independent bodies, including civil society, of progress towards accession AND of the Accession process itself.
- Use of a broad definition of corruption, which encompasses notions of state capture, embedded networks of power, trading in influence, etc, thus going beyond a focus on bribery.
- Greater transparency in the management of EU funds to help prevent corruption.
- Avoidance of double standards: the EU’s own new anti-corruption measures to be implemented in Member States.
