This short video explains everything you may have ever wanted to know about the Reconstruction of the State, but were afraid to ask.
The Czech Republic suffers from some of the worst corruption in the world. In order to fight it dozens of activists and experts got together to push for nine anticorruption bills aimed at increasing transparency while stopping conflicts of interest and misuse of public funds. The centerpiece of their efforts? A public pledge to support the anticorruption measures, which they put before every member of parliament.
At first, progress was painfully slow. But during snap elections in 2013, hundreds of volunteers took our cause directly to the candidates. Ultimately, 165 out of 200 members of parliament promised to support the reforms.
But the initial victory was short-lived. Eventually, parliament passed only one of the nine bills. The rest succumbed to an onslaught of excuses, delays, lobbyists, and political infighting. As the tide turned against reform, members of parliament started to demonize the pledge itself, calling us blackmailers, extremists, and radicals. The media eventually moved on to other issues.
Despite all these obstacles, we managed to get five of the proposed reforms passed by working with a small group of politicians across the party lines who actively advocated for the bills. Our initiative also inspired other coalitions to lead similar campaigns both at home and in neighboring countries. It’s a step in the right direction for a country that desperately needs to change the way it does business.
The European Parliament approved last weekthe proposed college of Commissioners. Věra Jourová successfully faced the public grilling and will become the Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality. Due to the shift of competencies within the Commission, Ms. Jourová will have an opportunity to influence the governance and rules of the game for multinational corporations.
A new independent study by Czech, Polish and Slovakian watchdogs identifies major gaps both in the national and EU legal framework that fundamentally increase the risk of political corruption and allow misuse of EU funds. The comparative analysis complements the long-delayed first EU Anti-corruption report released today.
From September 9 Justice and Environment is meeting in Opatija (Croatia) for a 5-day AGM during which a legal seminar and a strategy meeting also takes place.
