The Group of States against Corruption of the Council of Europe (GRECO) expressed concern about the restrictive application of the right of access to information in some European states and called on authorities to respect international standards in this field. Moldova forms part of the six countries covered by the GRECO’s 4th evaluation round, IPN reports, quoting a press release of the CoE
In its report, GRECO recalls the role that access to information plays in ensuring public transparency and in facilitating the pursuit of corrupt behavior and notes that Government entities are often reluctant to disclose information and prefer to apply exceptions enabling them to withhold all or parts of information requested. In addition, the application of laws on freedom of access to information is too often inconsistent across government entities, which shows the need for training to create a common understanding and application of national freedom of information laws.
GRECO’s president Marin Mrčela said: “Governments should guarantee the overall principle of transparency of public documents in practice. Any exception to the rule of public disclosure should be limited to a minimum and be thoroughly justified. When it comes specifically to public procurement, public scrutiny and access to official documents are key to effectively preventing corruption”.
GRECO welcomes states’ progress in implementing its recommendations to prevent corruption and promote integrity but underlines the need to strengthen the level of compliance. Finland and Norway are the only countries that fully implemented all the GRECO’s recommendations in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. Lithuania fully implemented 92% of the recommendations, being followed by Albania (90%), the UK (88%), Bulgaria (84%), Latvia (81%), San Marino (77%), Sweden (75%), the U.S. (75%), Estonia (74%), Montenegro (73%), the Netherlands (71%), Serbia (71%), Iceland (70%), and Monaco (68%).
Currently, only six countries are subject to the noncompliance procedure of GRECO’s 4th evaluation round, namely: Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Moldova, Poland, and Turkey. Moldova fully implemented six recommendations (33%). Ten recommendations were partially implemented (55.5%), while two are outstanding (11%), the CoE noted in its press release.
