CoE non-compliance procedure against Serbia, 8 others

The Council of Europe (CoE) has initiated proceedings against Serbia and eight other countries, Beta agency is reporting on Thursday.

The reason is their "overall unsatisfactory" implementation of recommendations for preventing corruption among parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors.

The recommendations were made by the Group of States against Corruption of the Council of Europe (GRECO), which operates within the Council of Europe, and whose annual report was published today in Brussels and Strasbourg, warning that there has been "a reversal of progress in the fight against corruption."

In addition to Serbia, the non-compliance procedure has been launched against Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Turkey.

Non-compliance procedure is also underway for Belarus and Switzerland, for which an assessment has already been made focusing on the demands that corruption cases be treated as crime, and that there must be an insight into "political financing" and a general legal framework for preventing corruption.

In a statement, the CoE said that "new legislative initiatives in certain European countries in 2017 reversed reforms previously undertaken to strengthen the prevention of corruption or started reforms that may result in breaches of the Council of Europe's anti-corruption standards."

Although there was overall progress in introducing new measures to fight corruption in respect of MPs, judges and prosecutors, their practical implementation remained slower than desirable, the statement said.

The GRECO report also "acknowledges the essential role played by journalists to fight corruption and pays tribute to Daphne Caruana Galizia," adding thather murder "revealed once again the need to protect journalists who investigate corruption and to bring the perpetrators of crimes against them to justice."

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