To support our advocacy work on concrete legislative proposals and recommendations, we collaborate with partners from the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia to prepare and publish reports, case studies, data analyses, and examples of international best practices.
Duration: 1 August 2014 – 31 March 2016
The project aimed at monitoring and evaluation of enforcement of anti-corruption policies and legislation in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia, in four thematic areas relevant to the prevention of political corruption and misuse of public funds:
As part of the project, we analyzed and identified weaknesses in the national anti-corruption legislation, its implementation, and practice in these four areas, and formulated recommendations for the three member states on the basis of our own data and findings as well as international standards and good practice:
Partners:
Co-funded by the Prevention of and Fight against Crime Programme of the European Union.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Supported in part by a grant from the Foundation Open Society Institute in cooperation with the Think Tank Fund of the Open Society Foundations.
Duration: 1 December 2012 – 31 July 2014
The project’s long-term goal was to build the capacity of front-line national and EU level civil society organisations (watchdogs) by networking and sharing their know-how, and thereby contributing to a more coordinated and efficient fight against political corruption and misuse of public funds within the EU. Specific project objectives included:
Comparative study: Public money and corruption risks
The study compares Czech, Polish, and Slovak regulations and practice, identifying major gaps both in the national and EU legal framework that fundamentally increase the risk of political corruption and mismanagement of EU funds. The report results from a year-long research by local teams of lawyers, economists and political analysts, and “shadows” the first EU Anti-corruption report published in early 2014. Analyzing major risks of political corruption in the management of public funds, the study sheds light on why millions of euros continue to be misused and why implementation of EU funds regularly ends up in criminal prosecution in all three studied countries. It concludes that European Commission and the three studied member states were ineffective in regulating anonymous and offshore recipients of funds and allowed management and oversight of the programs to be riddled with political conflicts of interest. The report includes a number of concrete examples from all three Member States and offers a set of recommendations for both national and EU level decision-makers. Read more about the study findings.
Read the full report: Public money and corruption risks
Other selected project outputs:
Partners:
With the financial support of the Prevention of and Fight against Crime Programme European Commission - Directorate-General Home Affairs.
The project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
The project was supported by a grant from the Open Society Foundations.
The study on the sustainability disclosures of 100 influential companies from high-impact sectors provides an early reflection on the general readiness for businesses in the EU to meet the expectations of the upcoming EU sustainability rules and standards. Our report contributes to identifying the main challenges, as well as to highlight emerging good practices.
Thanks to legal support from the Frank Bold expert group, the Czech Neighborhood Association Uhelná, which has been opposing the adverse effects of mining at the Polish Turów mine, has achieved a significant milestone: at their initiative, the Czech Environmental Inspectorate (CEI) launched an investigation to assess whether mining activities at Turów are causing long-term water loss on the Czech side of the border. This is one of the first cases in which the Czech office has applied the Act on the Prevention of Ecological Damage. The Inspectorate has also included the Polish mining company PGE in the proceedings.
Join us for our upcoming webinar where we present the findings from our analysis of sustainability disclosures by 100 large EU companies in high-impact sectors.
