GRECO Report Raises Alarm Over Judicial Independence, Calls for Stronger Political Integrity

GRECO Report Raises Alarm Over Judicial Independence, Calls for Stronger Political Integrity

For law enforcement agencies, the most challenging areas include declarations of assets, income, liabilities and interests, rotation and mobility policy, recruitment requirements and appointment procedures, and integrity checks.

RMN News Report
June 6, 2025

Strasbourg – The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has released its annual report for 2024, expressing serious concern about persistent threats to judicial independence in some member states. While acknowledging positive reforms in certain countries, the report urges states to strengthen the structures separating the three branches of power.

The report also calls for legislative reforms to enhance transparency in political funding. GRECO advocates for stronger enforcement mechanisms and the adoption of deterrent sanctions for violations of political financing rules. Recent developments have highlighted the need to improve mechanisms for transparent political financing and update existing anti-corruption standards for party and electoral campaign funding.

GRECO’s president, David Meyer, emphasized that the “global fight against corruption stands at a critical juncture.” He noted that while progress has been made in anti-corruption frameworks, persistent challenges remain in enforcement, transparency, and ongoing threats to judicial independence. Meyer stated that addressing these issues requires “renewed urgency and sustained political will at the national level”.

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Meyer added that in 2024, geopolitical shifts, economic instability, and rapid technological advancements have reshaped corruption risks. Elections in several member states have raised integrity concerns, including allegations of undue influence, irregular financing, and foreign interference, underscoring the need for effective anti-corruption frameworks to safeguard democratic processes.

The annual report was published alongside a comprehensive analysis of progress and shortcomings in GRECO’s 5th evaluation round. This round focuses on promoting integrity and preventing corruption within top executive functions of central governments and law enforcement agencies. The area where the most progress has been achieved so far is access to information and transparency.

However, progress has been particularly slow regarding top executive functions in areas such as integrity checks, post-employment restrictions, declaration review mechanisms, and contacts with lobbyists and third parties. The report underscores the need for clearer rules on perceived, potential, and real conflicts of interests, asset declarations, and lobbying, as well as more effective implementation of integrity frameworks and stronger oversight. For law enforcement agencies, the most challenging areas include declarations of assets, income, liabilities and interests, rotation and mobility policy, recruitment requirements and appointment procedures, and integrity checks.

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Regarding the 5th evaluation round recommendations, GRECO found that the general level of compliance remained insufficient by the end of 2024. As of December 31, 2024, states had fully or partly implemented 63% of recommendations for top executive functions (an increase from 58% in 2023) and 71% for law enforcement agencies (up from 67% in 2023).

Looking back at the 4th evaluation round concerning MPs, judges, and prosecutors, as of the end of 2024, member states had fully implemented 59% of recommendations and partly implemented 29%. 12% of GRECO recommendations remained non-implemented. The highest proportion of non-implemented recommendations was among MPs (16.6%), compared to judges (10.9%) and prosecutors (8.4%).

In March 2025, GRECO launched its 6th evaluation round, which will focus on preventing corruption and promoting integrity in local and regional authorities. Estonia, Slovak Republic, Luxembourg, and Slovenia are the first states scheduled for evaluation in 2025.

GRECO is a Council of Europe body that aims to improve its members’ capacity to fight corruption by monitoring compliance with anti-corruption standards. It helps states identify deficiencies in national anti-corruption policies and prompts necessary reforms. GRECO comprises the 46 Council of Europe member states, along with Kazakhstan and the United States of America.