ZAGREB, June 4, 2020 – Croatia has fulfilled only one out of the three recommendations made by GRECO, the Council of Europe anti-corruption body, concerning parliamentary deputies, and together with Hungary, Poland and Austria, Zagreb is one of the underperformers in this category, the Vecernji List daily wrote on Thursday.
Of 42 Council of Europe member-states covered by recommendations, the above-mentioned four countries have the poorest outcome in meeting the recommendations made in a bid to curb corruption among parliamentarians, the Vecernji List says in the article headlined, “Croatia fails to abide by anti-corruption recommendations for MPs”.
GRECO, headed by Croatian judge Marin Mrcela, who is the Croatian Supreme Court’s vice-president, has recommended the adoption of a code of conduct for MPs, however, Zagreb has not yet done that.
The code of conduct is supposed to provide guidelines for the conduct of lawmakers during their meetings with lobbyists or anyone advocating their cause. The document should also specify what MPs can accept as gifts and so on. A deadline that Croatia has set on itself to adopt the code expired in late 2015. The deadline was specified in the 2015-2020 strategy for the fight against corruption.
GRECO has in the meantime proposed new recommendations, including the adoption of a code of conduct for top state office-holders.
GRECO has already recommended the strengthening of the role of the Conflict of Interest Commission.
