Call on the Need for More Effective Anti-Corruption Policies - Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum

Call of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum
to national governments of Eastern Partnership and to the European Union
on the need for more effective anti-corruption policies

Acknowledging that corruption is a systemic phenomenon in Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries that has damaging impact on economic, social and democratic development;

Recognizing that it creates serious obstacles for European integration of EaP states; and

Admitting that certain steps have already been taken by EaP governments in order to combat corruption;

Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum expresses its deep concern with the slow progress in fighting corruption and assesses it to be a consequence of the lack of genuine political will.

Analyzing common trends in EaP countries we identify the following major challenges that require urgent action:

Widespread political corruption, reflected in biased legislation, selective enforcement, and electoral processes which are not free and fair;
Impunity of high level officials engaged in corruption;
Lack or inadequate enforcement of conflict of interest policies;
Weakness and political dependence of anti-corruption bodies (such as anti-corruption councils, monitoring committees, etc.); and
Lack of transparency and accountability of public institutions, and non-participatory decision-making processes.

We call for endorsement of effective anti-corruption mechanisms and implementation of international obligations, including the Open Government Partnership commitments.

We also call the European Union and other international organizations to encourage anti-corruption reforms of EaP states through a special requirement for transparent and accountable governance within the “more for more” conditionality principle, particularly promoting the public scrutiny of international assistance funding.

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