1. The Committee of Ministers considers
that corruption in all its forms is unacceptable and poses a major threat
to the core values defended by the Council of Europe, in particular
the rule of law. The fight against corruption is therefore a high
priority for the Organisation. It is also the main priority of the
Croatian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, which will
organise, in co-operation with the Group of States against Corruption
(GRECO), a high-level conference on “Strengthening transparency
and responsibility aimed at prevention of corruption”, on 15-16
October 2018, in Šibenik (Croatia).
2. On 20 June 2018, the Committee of Ministers adopted its reply
to Recommendation 2128
(2018) of the Parliamentary Assembly on the “Follow-up
to the report of the Independent Investigation Body on the allegations
of corruption within the Parliamentary Assembly”, in which it concurred
with the Assembly that all member States should take appropriate
action against corruption practices. It also informed the Assembly
that GRECO would take the findings of the Independent Investigation
Body’s report into account in its monitoring of the member States
mentioned in the report. In this respect, GRECO decided at its last
plenary meeting (18-22 June 2018) to ask the Azerbaijan delegation
to provide additional, supplementary information on the prevention
of corruption of members of parliament in the framework of the ongoing
Fourth Round compliance procedure. The delegation of Azerbaijan
indicated to the Committee of Ministers its readiness and openness to
pursue co-operation with GRECO in this context.
3. The Committee of Ministers reiterates that it is of upmost
importance that the Organisation not only ensures the highest level
of integrity in its activities but also ensures that its relevant
rules and regulations are in line with the highest standards. It
will continue to follow this matter closely.
