The day before International Anti-Corruption Day (9 December), Marin Mrčela, Chair of the Group of States against Corruption of the Council of Europe (GRECO), has published a Declaration in which he emphasises the fight against environmental corruption.
This involves huge sums of money, in the form of bribes and excessive influence on senior civil servants, politicians and law enforcement agencies.
“Private sector corruption in this area is also a concern”, stresses Marin Mrčela, who recommends transparency in decision-making and legislative processes, as well as corruption prevention measures, which are “also essential as part of the green transition in which large amounts of money are being invested”.
He points out that GRECO’s recommendations are fully relevant to environmental corruption and points out that the “Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law”, currently being drawn up by the Council of Europe, should enable States to be better equipped to initiate prosecutions and combat impunity.
The fight against environmental corruption must be a “policy priority”, concludes GRECO’s President.
Link to the Declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/a21 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)