GRECO or the Group of States against Corruption, which is the Council of Europe's anti-corruption body, expressed disappointment in a report released on Wednesday at the slow progress made by Slovakia in implementing its anti-corruption measures. GRECO, in its Evaluation Report, addressed 16 recommendations. Three of them have not been implemented, while six have been implemented only partially.
For example, GRECO recommended that the transparency of the legislative process be further improved by introducing appropriate standards and providing guidance to members of Parliament on dealing with lobbyists. This recommendation was not implemented by Slovakia, as a draft Code of ethics was under preparation within Parliament but it has not been possible to examine it and no further information has been given on possible new legislation. Meanwhile, the objective of drafting such a legal framework has been confirmed as a priority by the new Government. A code of ethics for MPs also remains not implemented.
Slovakia has also failed to implement a recommendation that the supervision and enforcement of rules on conflicts of interest, asset declarations and other duties and restrictions applicable to MPs under the Constitutional Act on the Protection of Public Interest be strengthened. The authorities add that in December 2019, the development of a new e-parliament system was launched, which also tackles the feasibility of electronic submission and the possible control of assets declarations of public officials. The final modalities of this new system are due to be considered by the new Parliament.
With respect to judges, no significant progress can be noted, states GRECO. Work is still on-going to refine the "interpretation rules" of the new Judicial Code of Conduct relating inter alia to conflicts of interest and to provide examples from practise.
The overall response to the recommendations is disappointing, stressed GRECO.
