on the position to be taken, on behalf of the European Union, in the 83FMT:Superscriptrd Plenary Meeting of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) as regards the participation of the European Union as observer in GRECO

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.SUBJECT MATTER OF THE PROPOSAL

This proposal concerns the decision establishing the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union in the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) in connection with the envisaged adoption of a decision concerning the observer status of the European Union.

2.CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

GRECO was established in 1999 by the Council of Europe to monitor States’ compliance with the anti-corruption standards set out in the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and the Civil Law Convention on Corruption. GRECO’s objective is to improve the capacity of its members to fight corruption by monitoring their compliance with Council of Europe’s anti-corruption standards through a dynamic process of mutual evaluation and peer pressure. Through a system of evaluations it helps to identify deficiencies in national anti-corruption policies, prompting the necessary legislative, institutional and practical reforms.

GRECO currently has 49 full members and 10 observers.

The EU’s participation in GRECO has been a priority for cooperation between the European Union and the Council of Europe. While the EU has been cooperating with the Council of Europe on the basis of a Memorandum of Understanding agreed in 2007, GRECO is one of the few bodies of the Council of Europe with which the EU has no dedicated legal framework of cooperation. The EU is not present in GRECO meetings, and opportunities for exchanging views with GRECO and its members and cooperating on matters of common interest in the area of rule of law and the fight against corruption are therefore very limited.

In 2011, the Commission defined the main objectives of strengthened cooperation between the EU and GRECO and analysed possible ways for the EU to participate in GRECO’s work and the benefits this would bring. This was followed in 2012 by a Commission Communication setting out a two-step approach for the EU’s accession to GRECO that implied full participant status in a first stage and full membership status in a second stage.

The European Parliament expressed continuous support to the EU’s participation in GRECO through numerous reports and resolutions, such as the 2016 resolution on the fight against corruption and follow-up of the 2015 resolution on organised crime, corruption and money laundering, and also in a debate in Plenary in 2018.

On 20 March 2019, the Executive Director of GRECO sent a letter to the Presidency of the Council, suggesting to consider the EU becoming an observer in GRECO. The observer status would allow the EU to participate in GRECO meetings and have access to all documents discussed. As an observer, the EU would not have the right to vote, not be subject to evaluation and would not take formal position in evaluation processes or participate in evaluation missions. There is no financial contribution requested from observers. It should be noted that the rules are the same for every observer.

Under Article 220 TFEU, the Union establishes all appropriate forms of cooperation with the organs of the United Nations and its specialised agencies, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Commission shall implement this Article. The Commission officially informed the European Parliament and the Council of its intention to seek observer status in GRECO for the European Union. The Council expressed its support for the Union to become an observer in GRECO at its meeting of 6 June 2019.

On 6 June 2019, the Commission submitted to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe the EU request to become observer. The EU seeking now to become an observer in GRECO does not preclude other possible forms of participation in the future, including full membership.

The GRECO Plenary is likely to consider the EU request at its meeting on 17-21 June 2019. It shall decide by unanimous decision. If unanimity is not reached in the Plenary, the matter may be referred to the Committee of Ministers which will decide by a two-thirds majority of all its representatives. All Member States of the EU are members of GRECO and will participate in the decision to be taken on granting the EU observer status in GRECO.

Member States are under an obligation to support the request in accordance with the principle of loyal cooperation. The Commission has nonetheless decided on this occasion to make a proposal based on Article 218(9) TFEU. This will ensure with even more certainty that the EU Member States speak with one voice in support of the EU being granted the observer status at the GRECO Plenary Meeting and, if needed, at the subsequent meeting of the Committee of Ministers.

3.LEGAL BASIS

The main objective of GRECO is to improve the capacity of its members to fight corruption. The legal basis of the proposed decision should therefore be Article 83 TFEU in conjunction with Article 218(9) TFEU.





2019/0135 (NLE)