COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE Participation of the European Union in the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO)
Date: 2012-10-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Council of Europe, European integration, European political cooperation, corruption, prevention of delinquency

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 19.10.2012  
COM(2012) 604 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE 

Participation of the European Union in the Council of Europe Group of States against 
Corruption (GRECO) 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE 

Participation of the European Union in the Council of Europe Group of States against 
Corruption (GRECO) 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

This  Communication  sets  out  how  the  Commission  intends  to  step  up  cooperation  between 
the EU and the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), following 
the Commission’s ‘anti-corruption package’ of 6 June 20111. 

It  envisages  a  two-stage  approach  consisting  first  of  a  ‘full  participant’  status2  based  on 
Article 220 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) that may, in a second stage, 
lead to full EU membership of GRECO. 

That approach will allow cooperation to be increased, within a relatively sort time-frame, on 
the basis of full participant status and pending an analysis of how full membership, including 
evaluation of EU institutions by GRECO, would be organised in practice. 

2. 

FORM  OF  PARTICIPATION  CONSIDERED  AND  SPECIFIC  OBJECTIVES  OF  EU 
PARTICIPATION IN GRECO 

The  main  principles  of  cooperation,  shared  priorities  and  focused  areas  for 
cooperation between the Council of Europe and the European Union are set out in a 
Memorandum of Understanding concluded in 20073. According to the Memorandum, 
legal  cooperation  between  the  two  parties  covering  the  rule  of  law,  including  the 
fight  against  corruption,  should  be  further  developed  to  ensure  coherence  between 
EU law and Council of Europe conventions. Under ‘Inter-institutional cooperation’, 
the  Memorandum  also  states  that  the  Council  of  Europe  and  the  EU  will  further 
cooperate using the opportunities provided by existing partial agreements4. 

Within this legal context, the Commission intends, in a first phase, to discuss with GRECO 
full participant status for the EU. After those discussions have been concluded with GRECO, 
an EU analysis will be prepared of the impact of possibly making EU institutions subject to 
GRECO’s  evaluation  procedures.  This  will  be  the  basis  for  deciding  whether,  in  a  second 

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Communication  from  the  Commission on Fighting  Corruption  in  the  EU  (COM(2011)  308  final)  and 
Report  from  the  Commission  on  the  modalities  of  European  Union  participation  in  the  Council  of 
Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) (COM(2011) 307 final). 
‘Full participant status’ is the expression commonly used to refer to situations in which, albeit not a full 
member of an organisation, the EU enjoys very similar rights to those enjoyed by members except for 
voting rights (see also the EU’s status in the World Health Organisation, Unesco, the International Civil 
Aviation Organisation, the Council of Europe or the OECD). 
CM(2007)74, adopted on 10 May 2007 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. 
Paragraph 48. 

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phase, to seek full EU membership of GRECO. To this end, a working group will be set up at 
EU level to deliver such an analysis. 

With  full  participant  status,  the  EU  would  participate  in  GRECO  with  a  degree  of 
involvement  in  the  evaluation  system  to  be  tailored  for  this  first  phase,  but  it  would  not  be 
subject to the mutual evaluation and would thus not have voting rights, nor would it be able to 
have  a  representative  on  GRECO’s  Bureau,  which  consists  only  of  full  members.  EU  full 
participant status in GRECO should aim to achieve the following specific objectives: 

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Involvement  in  the  country  visits  forming  part  of  the  evaluations  of  EU  Member 
States and/or candidate countries and potential candidates, should the latter agree; 

Possibility to formulate suggestions on draft evaluation reports and participate in the 
debates of the GRECO plenary on the evaluation/compliance reports for EU Member 
States and/or candidate countries and potential candidates, should the latter agree; 

Possibility to formulate proposals to GRECO’s Bureau5, which has an important role 
in preparing evaluations and drafting the reports; 

Comparative  analysis6  to  be  carried  out  by  GRECO  on  the  basis  of  the  existing 
evaluation  and  compliance  reports  on  the  Member  States  to  be  considered  in  the 
preparation of the EU Anti-Corruption Report; 

Access  to  information  gathered  and  updated  by  GRECO  in  the  framework  of  the 
evaluation process; 

Flagging  of  outstanding  GRECO  recommendations  of  relevance  for  the  EU,  for 
which the EU Anti-Corruption Report may provide additional impetus for adequate 
follow-up. 

During the first phase, to ensure synergies between GRECO’s evaluation system and the EU 
Anti-Corruption Report established by the Commission’s ‘anti-corruption package’ of 6 June 
20117, the Commission will consider involving a GRECO representative in the expert group 
on corruption established to help prepare the EU Anti-Corruption Report. 

In a second phase, not later than four years after the EU has begun participating in GRECO, 
the form of  the  EU’s participation will be reassessed. Depending on the findings  of  the  EU 
analysis mentioned above, full membership may be considered. 

GRECO’s  plenary,  when  analysing  the  outcome  of  the  preliminary  discussions  between  the 
Commission  and  the  GRECO  Secretariat,  has  expressed  the  view  that  the  evaluation  of  the 

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The Bureau is composed of GRECO’s President and Vice-President, and five other representatives of 
the  GRECO  members  entitled  to  vote.  The  Bureau  prepares  the  draft  annual  programme  of  activities 
and  the  draft  annual  activity  report,  makes  proposals  on  the  draft  budget,  organises  country  visits, 
proposes  the  composition  of  evaluation  teams,  prepares  the  agenda  for  the  GRECO  plenary,  and 
proposes the provisions to be selected for evaluation. 
The analysis would be based on the existing evaluation and compliance reports — i.e. it would not give 
rise to additional procedures, nor an additional step in the evaluation of the EU Member States; it would 
only assess in a comparative manner what has already been produced by GRECO. 
COM(2011) 307 final Report from the Commission to the Council on the modalities of European Union 
participation in the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). 

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EU institutions by GRECO should be one of the key items in the discussions and that it has to 
be considered as more than just a remote possibility. 

Nonetheless, a further assessment of the requisites, feasibility and potential impact of such an 
evaluation is needed. Indeed, GRECO has developed an evaluation system geared to countries 
and not organisations; this means that, for instance, the applicability to the EU of the Council 
of Europe’s Twenty Guiding Principles for the Fight against Corruption, which are conceived 
as commitments by countries, would have to be assessed. 

EU institutions have their specific features, which do not coincide with those of classic state 
institutions.  There  are  limitations  to  EU  competences  as  opposed  to  those  of  a  country. 
Questions arise also as to how the evaluation teams would be established for evaluating EU 
institutions.  The  GRECO  evaluation  system  would  therefore  need  to  be  adapted  to  the 
specifics of the EU legal and institutional framework. Given that such a system has not been 
tested before, both sides would need to carefully analyse the practicalities and legal aspects of 
such  evaluations.  That  assessment  would  require  time  and  thought,  and  the  fact  of  the  EU 
being already involved in GRECO activities would support the EU analysis on this matter.  

This two-stage approach would be in line with the stance of GRECO’s plenary, since it would 
establish a clear deadline for the reassessment of the form of EU participation and a decision 
by the EU would be taken in this regard based on the concrete findings of a working group set 
up at EU level. 

3. 

LEGAL AND PROCEDURAL STEPS 

The first step foreseen for the EU participation in GRECO (‘full participant status’) does not 
amount to an accession to an international organisation or to an international treaty requiring 
the  conclusion  of  an  agreement  under  Article  218  TFUE8.  It  is  rather  about  establishing  an 
appropriate  form  of  cooperation  with  GRECO  for  which  Article  220  of  the  Treaty  on  the 
Functioning  of  the  European Union (TFEU) is applicable. Article 220 TFEU states that: ‘1. 
The  Union  shall  establish  all  appropriate  forms  of  cooperation  with  (…)  the  Council  of 
Europe (…). 2. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy 
and the Commission shall implement this Article’. EU status in the Council of Europe is also a 
full  participant  status,  as  established  by  the  Commission  from  the  beginning  (ex-Art.  302 
TEC)9. Since GRECO’s activities do not deal with common foreign and security policy, it is 
for the Commission to establish an appropriate form of cooperation with the GRECO under 
Article 220 TFUE. 

EU participation in GRECO will not affect the competences of the Union, nor the rights and 
obligations of the Member States under GRECO.  

Participation of the EU in GRECO will follow the procedure consisting of an invitation from 
the  Council  of  Europe's  Committee  of  Ministers  to  the  Union  to  participate  in  GRECO  and 
not that of accession to the Council of Europe's Conventions on corruption. 

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The Report on modalities of EU participation in GRECO of 6 June 2011 stated that the Council will be 
requested to authorize the opening of negotiations on behalf of the EU with a view of a membership. 
However,  the  approach  for  which  the  Commission  has  eventually  opted  after  an  assessment  of  all 
modalities available does not consider in a first phase full membership of the EU in GRECO.  
The same applies for  instance  with  respect  to  UNESCO  and  the  OECD  in  line  with  what  Article  220 
TFUE foresees. 

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In GRECO’s Statute, a specific provision (distinct from that on membership) is dedicated to 
the  participation  of  the  European  Community  and  reads  as  follows:  ‘The  European 
Community  may  be  invited  by  the  Committee  of  Ministers  to  participate  in  the  work  of  the 
GRECO. The modalities of its participation shall be determined in the resolution inviting it to 
participate’.  This  invitation  is  to  be  officially  sent  to  the  EU  after  the  modalities  of 
participation of the EU in GRECO have been agreed between the Committee of Ministers of 
the Council of Europe and the EU on the basis of a proposal made by GRECO and endorsed 
by the Statutory Committee10. 

In  other  words,  the  text  of  the  Resolution  to  be  adopted  by  the  Committee  of  Ministers 
inviting the EU to participate in the GRECO will be in fact the text discussed and agreed by 
both  the  Committee  of  Ministers  and  the  Commission,  acting  on  behalf  of  the  Union.  The 
Commission  will  accept  this  invitation  through  a  unilateral  decision  and  will  inform  the 
Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee of the 
result of the discussions. 

4. 

FINANCIAL ISSUES 

If the special objectives described above were to be met, a financial contribution of the Union 
to the GRECO budget of 300.000 EUR/year is to be envisaged, subject to further negotiation 
with  GRECO.  The  fees  paid  by  the  GRECO  members  are  set  by  a  decision  adopted  by  the 
GRECO Statutory Committee updated on a regular basis. This contribution should reflect the 
costs  that  the  EU  participation  in  the  GRECO  will  generate  for  the  Group,  as  well  as  the 
degree  of  actual  EU  involvement  in  GRECO's  activities  (i.e.  no  voting  rights  in  the  first 
phase). A further 150 000 EUR/year will be used for joint activities with GRECO such as data 
gathering and preparation of studies for background to the EU Anti-Corruption Reports. 

Taking into account the legal framework under which the establishment of a full participant 
status  for  the  EU  will  occur  (i.e.  Article  220  TFEU),  the  Commission  will  consider  the 
payment  of  its  financial  contribution  through  the  signing  of  joint  programmes  with  the 
Council of Europe. The necessary sum will be covered by the Internal Security Fund11. 

5. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission will start discussions on a full participant status of the EU in GRECO on the 
basis  of  this  Communication.  The  Commission  will  inform  the  Council,  the  European 
Parliament  and  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  of  the  outcome  of  these 
discussions. 

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See Rule 2 of the GRECO’s Rules of procedure. 
Proposal  for  a  REGULATION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AND  OF  THE  COUNCIL 
establishing,  as  part  of  the  Internal  Security  Fund,  the  instrument  for  financial  support  for  police 
cooperation, preventing and combating crime, and crisis management, COM(2011) 753 final. 

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Annex 

SCOPE OF DISCUSSIONS ON THE FULL PARTICIPANT STATUS 

The  Commission  will  discuss  on  behalf  of  the  Union  the  modalities  of  participation  of  the 
European Union in GRECO. The outcome of the discussions will be reflected in a Resolution 
of  the  Council  of  Europe’s  Committee  of  Ministers  inviting  the  Union  to  participate  in 
GRECO  (‘the  Resolution’).  The  Resolution  (including  its  appendices)  should  contain  clear 
statements on the EU’s rights and obligations in GRECO and the practical arrangements for 
the  participation  of  the  EU  as  a  distinct  legal  entity,  vested  with  autonomous  powers 
alongside all its Member States.  

The EU’s participation in GRECO should be governed by the following basic principles that 
should be reflected, where necessary, in the Resolution: 

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Participation  should  take  into  account  the  specificity  and  limits  of  the  Union’s 
competence.  It  should  also  allow  the  EU  to  establish  higher  standards  within  its 
borders.  Participation  should  therefore  not  affect  the  competences  of  the  Union,  or 
the  powers  of  its  institutions,  bodies,  offices  or  agencies.  Special  regard  should  be 
given  to  the  division  of  competences  between  the  EU  and  its  Member  States,  and 
also  to  the  preservation  of  Union  law  and  its  unique  legal  system  (principle  of 
neutrality regarding Union powers). 

Participation should not affect the rights and obligations of the Member States under 
GRECO (principle of neutrality regarding Member States’ obligations). 

Participation  should  not  affect  the  principle  of  conferral  of  powers  stipulated  in 
Article 13(2) of the Treaty on the European Union and the principle of institutional 
balance deriving from the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. 

GRECO  and  its  specific  bodies,  the  Statutory  Committee  and  the  Council  of 
Europe’s  Committee  of  Ministers  should  not  be  called  upon  to  interpret,  even 
implicitly or incidentally, Union law and in particular its rules regarding the powers 
of the institutions, bodies, offices or agencies and regarding the content and scope of 
Member States’ obligations under Union law (principle of autonomous interpretation 
of Union law). 

The EU representative should seek to obtain the right to participate in other Council 
of  Europe  bodies  to  the  extent  that  their  activities  are  linked  to  the  purpose  of 
GRECO, in proportion to its level of participation. 

The discussions should ensure that EU participation in GRECO guarantees a special working 
relationship to secure a coordinated approach at European level towards corruption. For the 
EU,  access  to  the  early  stages  of  evaluation  rounds,  preparation  of  country  reports  and 
updated  information  gathered  in  the  context  of  the  evaluation  process,  participation  in  the 
GRECO plenary, the comparative analysis of Member States’ evaluations and the flagging of 
outstanding recommendations are of considerable importance. 

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The discussions should ensure that EU participation in GRECO creates synergies with the EU 
Anti-Corruption Report. Any unnecessary additional burden on Member State administrations 
and duplication of activities should be avoided. 

The  discussions  should  ensure  that  EU  participation  in  GRECO  does  not  impinge  upon  the 
Commission’s powers with regard to the EU Anti-Corruption Report. The discussions should 
ensure that the specific objectives mentioned in Section 2 of this Communication are met to 
the greatest possible extent. 

The  discussions  on  a  full  participant  status  for  the  EU  in  GRECO  should  also  entail  a 
commitment by the Union to carry out an analysis of the requisites, feasibility and potential 
impact  of  possibly  making  the  EU  institutions  subject  to  GRECO  evaluation  procedures. 
Depending on the findings, that analysis could lead to full EU membership of GRECO. The 
analysis  should  take  into  account  the  specifics  of  the  EU  legal  and  institutional  framework, 
and the competences of the Union as set out in the Treaties. A new form of EU participation 
in GRECO would require a negotiation process. 

With  full  participant  status,  the  EU  should  be  allowed  to  participate  in  GRECO  plenary 
meetings. 

The  discussions  should  ensure  that  the  EU  can  appoint  a  delegation  of  up  to  two 
representatives to GRECO and, if appropriate, one substitute per representative. 

The discussions should ensure that the EU representatives enjoy the privileges and immunities 
applicable  under  Article  2  of  the  Protocol  to  the  General  Agreement  on  Privileges  and 
Immunities of the Council of Europe, on an equal footing with all other GRECO members. 

The discussions should aim to ensure that the EU is allowed to appoint up to five experts who 
would be able to undertake the tasks provided by GRECO’s Statute and Rules of Procedure 
regarding the evaluation process, within the limits of the form of the EU’s participation. 

The discussions should aim to ensure that the EU’s experts are allowed to be involved in the 
process  of  evaluating  EU  Member  States  and  possibly  candidate  countries  or  potential 
candidates,  if  the  latter  agree,  at  least  as  observers,  and  that  they  are  able  to  formulate 
comments,  remarks  and  proposals  relating  to  the  preparations  of  evaluations  and  to  the 
evaluation  procedures.  The  discussions  should  also  ensure  that  the  EU  has  access  from  the 
early  stages  to  draft  evaluation  and  compliance  reports,  and  addenda  to  compliance  reports 
regarding  EU  Member  States  and,  if  these  countries  agree,  candidate  countries  or  potential 
candidates. 

The  EU’s  participation  in  GRECO  should  not  affect  the  direct  representation  of  individual 
Member  States,  nor  their  right  to  participate  in  an  individual  capacity  in  any  votes  during 
GRECO plenary sessions. 

The  discussions  should  ensure  that,  at  the  latest  four  years  after  the  EU  has  begun 
participating in GRECO, the form of the EU’s participation is reassessed. 

The discussions should consider the possibilities for the EU to participate in meetings of the 
Statutory Committee and those of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers when the 
latter is dealing with GRECO matters. 

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The Directorate General Home Affairs will designate among its officials the person who shall 
discuss the modalities of the appropriate form of cooperation. The outcome of the discussions 
will have to be endorsed by the College of Commissioners and confirmed by a Commission 
decision. 

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