In a report published today which evaluates the effectiveness of the framework in place in Monaco for preventing corruption among persons with top executive functions and members of law enforcement agencies, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) calls on Monaco to take resolute steps to supplement and extend the recent legislation applicable to members of the government in order to make the anticorruption system more consistent and provide all the requisite guarantees of integrity.
GRECO recommends that the rules of ethics and the obligation to declare interests and assets be made applicable to the persons who work most closely with ministers, to the Secretary of State for Justice and to the Prince’s advisers. For all of the most senior posts in the executive, these rules need to be supplemented with better assessment of the integrity of appointees, greater transparency of their activity and more monitoring of compliance with the rules, as well as a system of penalties. The rules on outside activities and jobs taken after leaving office also need to be made clearer.
Given that the Sovereign Prince actually performs key executive functions, GRECO also recommends that some of these transparency and integrity measures be made applicable to the Head of State, in particular those relating to contact between him and third parties and gifts received in the course of his executive functions, prevention of conflicts of interest and the use of public funds allocated to the running of the Sovereign household.
While welcoming the appointment of an ethics committee and an ethics officer from whom ministers can obtain advice, GRECO calls for an overall anticorruption strategy to be introduced.
Noting that a culture of discretion prevails in Monaco, GRECO recommends that access to information be improved, pointing out, for example, that there are no rules governing dealings between public decision-makers and lobbyists, and no system to facilitate the intervention and protection of whistleblowers.
It also calls for the public procurement system to be made more transparent, targeting in particular the decision-making role of state officials in businesses in which the state is a majority shareholder but which operate according to the rules applicable to private companies. It also recommends introducing a measure inviting the Prince to remove himself formally from public decisions in which he or his family have a private interest.
In its report, GRECO recognises that the Monegasque police is well organised and enjoys a good reputation among the public. It recommends, however, that the authorities ensure greater transparency in the appointment of its senior officers and increased scrutiny of the integrity of appointees. GRECO would like to see the police code of ethics supplemented by practical guidance and more training. It also calls for an overall strategy for tackling corruption in the police to be put in place to make the system more coherent and effective and for the asset and interest declaration system for persons holding at-risk posts to be supplemented so that effective and substantial scrutiny of these declarations can happen.
GRECO calls for particular attention to be paid to the police’s powers in relation to issuing residence permits, which give entitlement to an advantageous tax status and pose a risk in terms of staff integrity. Lastly, it recommends that rules on whistleblowers and their protection be put in place for the police.
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