Economic Crime and Cooperation Division (ECCD) of the Council of Europe participated at the 9th Session of the Conference of the State Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption and held on 16 December 2021 an online special event on Trends, good practices and challenges in preventing and fighting corruption.

During the event the ECCD presented preliminary analysis of the trends and developments in the anti-corruption area in the last decade as well as new anti-corruption means and new emerging areas with high risk of corruption.

The participants increased their awareness on the areas where the efforts should be strengthened such as:
a) promotion of integrity,
b) independence of judiciary,
c) access to public information,
d) transparency of the law-making process,
e) regulation of contacts of decision-makers (including lobbyists) and
f) enhancement of the whistleblower protection.

Moreover, Council of Europe experts also emphasised a series of tools to increase anti-corruption efforts such as information and communication technology as well as new emerging areas with high corruption risks including the abuse of support measures for tackling the climate crisis and manipulation of information.

Furthermore, the participants enhanced their knowledge on the concept of corporate liability and enforcement approaches taken by different jurisdictions, got acquainted with different systems of corporate liability and got an overview of the steps that could be taken in their domestic legal and institutional framework based on the international standards and good practices. Participants were also acquainted with the publication issued by the ECCD on Liability of legal Persons for Corruption Offences.

As the countries are taking measures to strengthen their anti-corruption systems, by contrast the perpetrators try to find new ways to overcome them. Therefore, it is necessary to stay vigilant as well as to take stock of the trends and evolving developments.

The Council of Europe will further monitor and analyse the developments, trends and challenges in the economic crime area including the prevention and fight against corruption and will continue to further support more effective and efficient anticorruption measures in the beneficiary countries and jurisdictions in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia through technical cooperation.