Inviting stakeholders to the process of monitoring anti-corruption legislation and policies in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia

Project: Inviting stakeholders to the process of monitoring anti-corruption legislation and policies in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia

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:

• Access to information on the administration of public funds
• Civil Service Act
• Political party financing
• Transparency of the legislative process and lobbying regulation

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:

• The Funding and Oversight of Political Parties and Election Campaigns in East Central Europe
• Kontrola financování stran. Porovnání dohledových institucí ve vybraných evropských státech (in Czech)
• Lobbying – a risk or an opportunity? Lobbying regulation in the Polish, Slovak, and Czech perspective
• Shedding Light on Public Contracts: The Register of Contracts in Public Spending Oversight
• Remuneration of the Civil Service in Slovakia: Transparency and Predictibility of the System

Partners:

• Frank Bold (Czech Republic)
• Fundacja Frank Bold (Poland)
• Slovak Governance Institute (Slovakia)

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.

Project: Involving European civil society players into detection and prevention of political corruption and public money fraud: coalitions and capacity building in Czech Rep., Poland and Slovakia

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:

1. Monitor specific areas (and cases) vulnerable to political corruption and misuse of public money.
2. Develop and use tools and methods of detection and prevention of political corruption, including legal tools, economic analysis, and profiling of key persons.
3. Analyze and report findings about key factors of political corruption and misuse of public money, contributing to the EU level anti-corruption mechanism.
4. Involve other stakeholders, communicating the identified problems and findings to law-enforcing agencies and decision-makers as well as to civil society players, media, and public.

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:

• Czech national report (in Czech): Česko, země trafik. Problémy správy a řízení státních a obecních podniků v České republice
• Slovak national report (in Slovak): Analýza vybraných ustanovení zákona č. 400/2009 Z.z. o štátnej správe. Indikátory politizácie štátnej správy a odporúčania na zmenu
• Polish national report (in Polish): Sposób doboru i kwalifikacji rad nadzorczych i zarządów oraz ocena ich pracy jako element nadzoru właścicielskiego w podmiotach z udziałem skarbu państwa
• Staff turnover among public officials – description of a research method (in English)
• Legislative Activity Rating Algorithm (LARA) – description of a method for rating MPs according to their legislative behavior (in English)
• Website and online database of Polish corruption cases (in Polish): www.aferypolskie.pl
• Website and online tool for monitoring financial flow from EU funds to their end recipients Fondyeu.eu (in Czech): www.fondyeu.eu

Partners:

• Frank Bold is a public interest law organization with offices in Prague, Brussels, and Krakow.
• Naši Politici gathers and publishes information about the activities of Czech public service and its elected representatives with an emphasis on potential conflicts of interest.
• The Centre of Applied Economics is a semi-academic NGO engaged in data-driven research on the public sector.
• KohoVolit.eu is a non-governmental organization and an eponymous website aimed at promoting democracy by encouraging the political awareness of citizens and public control of elected representatives.
• Centrum Cyfrowe Projekt: Polska works towards social change and enhances citizens’ participation through the use of digital technologies and open, cooperative models based on sharing knowledge and other resources.
• Slovak Governance Institute is an independent civic association creating and supporting solutions to increase the quality of the process of public funds allocation.

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.

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