Retsudvalget 2021-22
REU Alm.del Bilag 68
Offentligt
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22 September 2021
Confidential
GrecoRC4(2021)13
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FOURTH EVALUATION ROUND
Corruption prevention in respect of members of
parliament, judges and prosecutors
SECOND INTERIM COMPLIANCE REPORT
DENMARK
Adopted by GRECO at its
Plenary meeting
(Strasbourg, 20-22 September 2021)
88
th
GRECO Secretariat
Council of Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex
+33 3 88 41 20 00
www.coe.int/greco
Directorate General I
Human Rights and Rule of Law
Information Society and Action
against Crime Directorate
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I.
1.
INTRODUCTION
This Second Interim Compliance Report assesses the measures taken by the
authorities of Denmark to implement the recommendations issued in the Fourth
Round Evaluation Report on Denmark (see paragraph 2). GRECO’s Fourth Evaluation
Round deals with “Corruption prevention in respect of members of parliament, judges
and prosecutors”.
The Fourth Round Evaluation Report on Denmark was adopted at GRECO’s
63
rd
Plenary meeting (28 March 2014) and made public on 16 April 2014, following
authorisation by Denmark (Greco
Eval IV Rep (2013) 6E).
GRECO addressed in total
six recommendations to Denmark.
The
Fourth Round Compliance Report
was adopted by GRECO at its 71
st
Plenary
meeting (18 March 2016) and made public on 15 April 2016, following the
authorisation by the Danish authorities.
The
Second Compliance Report
was adopted by GRECO at its 80
th
Plenary meeting
(22 June 2018) and made public on 12 September 2018, following the authorisation
by the Danish authorities. GRECO concluded in this Report that the low level of
compliance was “globally unsatisfactory” in the meaning of Rule 31, paragraph 8.3
of its Rules of Procedure. GRECO therefore decided to apply Rule 32 concerning
members not found to be compliant with the recommendations contained in the
mutual evaluation report.
The
Interim Compliance Report
was adopted by GRECO at its 84
th
Plenary meeting
(6 December 2019) and made public on 5 February 2020, following the authorisation
by the Danish authorities. In this report, GRECO noted that Denmark had fully
complied with the two recommendations concerning “Corruption
prevention in
respect of judges and prosecutors”, while
the very low level of compliance with the
recommendations concerning “Corruption prevention in respect of members of
parliament” remained “globally unsatisfactory” in the meaning of Rule 31, paragraph
8.3 of its Rules of Procedure. GRECO therefore decided to continue to apply Rule 32
concerning members found not to be in compliance with the recommendations
contained in the mutual evaluation report and asked the Head of the Danish
delegation to provide a report on the progress made by 31 December 2020, a
deadline that was exceptionally extended to 31 March 2021.
On 23 March 2021, the authorities of Denmark submitted a Situation Report on
further measures taken to implement the pending recommendations. This
information served as a basis for this Second Interim Compliance Report.
GRECO selected the United Kingdom to appoint a Rapporteur for the compliance
procedure (in respect of “Corruption
prevention in respect of members of
parliament”).
The Rapporteur appointed was Ms Fariha KHAN. She was assisted by
GRECO’s Secretariat in drawing up the Second Interim Compliance Report.
ANALYSIS
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
II.
Corruption prevention in respect of members of parliament
8.
It is recalled that GRECO addressed four recommendations to Denmark in its
Evaluation Report in respect of members of parliament. In the Interim Compliance
report, recommendations i, iii and iv had only been partly implemented and
recommendation ii had not been implemented. Compliance with these
recommendations is dealt with below.
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Recommendation i.
9.
GRECO recommended (i) that a code of conduct for members of parliament –
including, inter alia, guidance on the prevention of conflicts of interest, on questions
concerning gifts and other advantages and on how to deal with third parties seeking
to obtain undue influence on MPs’ work – be adopted and made easily accessible to
the public; and (ii) that it be complemented by practical measures for its
implementation, such as dedicated training or counselling.
It is recalled that this recommendation was partly implemented in the Compliance
Report. GRECO noted that the outgoing Speaker had, in 2014, addressed issues
highlighted in the recommendation in the form of a letter to all MPs, in order to draw
their attention to ethical conduct and to the responsibility for upholding public trust
in Parliament. While falling short of the recommendation, GRECO acknowledged that
principles by which all MPs should abide were mentioned in the letter of the Speaker
as an initial measure, it was not considered a code of conduct, nor were any other
measures such as training and counselling in place.
In the Second Compliance Report the authorities maintained their position that a
letter such as the one that was sent by the former Speaker on behalf of the former
Presidium of the Danish Parliament, ahead of the 2015 elections, was an appropriate
format for such a document in the context of the political system of Denmark. The
then Presidium of Parliament would therefore consider ahead of the next
parliamentary elections, whether a similar letter to members elected at that time
could advantageously be accompanied by examples without detracting from the
overall spirit of such a letter. The authorities added that they intended to initiate a
discussion on the content of a similar letter in the Standing Orders Committee (which
includes representatives of all parties and all party group chairpersons) as well as
within the Presidium itself and would ensure that any similar letter to members
elected in the next election were to be made accessible to the public. It was also
stated that better use of party group chairpersons should be made for counselling
reasons.
In the Second Compliance Report, GRECO welcomed that in the future such a letter
was to be based on a more inclusive and broader debate in Parliament, in the
Standing Orders Committee, where all political groups are represented, as well as in
the Presidium itself. GRECO found that the letter by the former Speaker, referred to
in the Compliance Report, was a good initiative, but it considered it necessary that
such a document obtains recognition and authority over time, regardless of elections.
While the first part remained partly implemented (the letter), nothing new had been
reported in respect of the second part of the recommendation and it remained partly
implemented.
In the Interim Compliance Report, the authorities reported that the former Speaker
of the Danish Parliament had sent a letter addressed to elected members of
Parliament shortly after the elections on 5 June 2019. The content of the letter was
similar to the one sent by her predecessor at the time of the elections in 2015. GRECO
reiterated that such a letter could not be considered a code of ethics and noted that
nothing concrete had been reported in respect of the second part of the
recommendation.
The Danish authorities do not report anything new in respect of this recommendation.
GRECO concludes that recommendation i remains partly implemented.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
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Recommendation ii.
16.
GRECO recommended that a requirement of ad hoc disclosure be introduced when a
conflict between the private interests of individual members of parliament may
emerge in relation to a matter under consideration in parliamentary proceedings.
It is recalled that this recommendation was not implemented in the previous
compliance reports. The Danish authorities were of the opinion that such a
requirement could at the most take the form of an unenforceable encouragement to
Members of Parliament to declare any private interests in particular decisions and to
consider not participating in a decision if doing so would appear improper. The
authorities could not see how, within the limits of the Danish Constitution, a
requirement of ad hoc disclosure could be enforced in any way. GRECO welcomed
the encouragement given in the Speaker’s letter to MPs to either abstain or declare
any interest that they or their relatives or associates held, which it thought might
prevent them from acting in a given matter under consideration by parliament.
However, the letter did not bring any change to the voluntary regime that was
analysed in the Evaluation Report.
17.
18.
The authorities of Denmark do not report anything new in respect of this
recommendation.
19.
GRECO concludes that recommendation ii remains not implemented.
Recommendation iii.
20.
GRECO recommended (i) that regular public registration of occupations and financial
interests by members of parliament be made mandatory; (ii) that the existing system
be further developed, in particular, by including quantitative data on the occupations
and financial interests of members of parliament as well as data on significant
liabilities; and (iii) that consideration be given to widening the scope of the
declarations to also include information on spouses and dependent family members
(it being understood that such information would not necessarily need to be made
public).
GRECO recalls that this recommendation was partly implemented in the previous
compliance reports. The first part of the recommendation had been complied with,
as the registration of occupations and financial interests had been made compulsory
for MPs. The second part of the recommendation was not implemented as the
registration system had not been further developed. Also the third part of the
recommendation was not implemented as the authorities had not provided sufficient
information suggesting that this part had been duly considered.
21.
22.
The authorities do not report anything new in respect of this recommendation.
23.
GRECO concludes that recommendation iii remains partly implemented.
Recommendation iv.
24.
GRECO recommended that appropriate measures be taken to ensure supervision and
enforcement of i) the rules on registration of the occupations and financial interests
by members of parliament and ii) standards of conduct applicable to them, where
necessary.
It is recalled that the current recommendation was partly implemented in the
previous compliance reports. The first part had been implemented satisfactorily
through the publication on the Parliament’s website of the list of MPs that had not
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25.
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registered (regularly updated by the Legal Services Office). This “naming and
shaming” measure appeared pertinent, given that it was subject to a high degree of
transparency. However, the second part of the recommendation was not
implemented; the Presidium of Parliament had not seen fit to take any initiatives
towards a formal mechanism with regard to compliance with the principles of ethics
contained in the letter of the Speaker (as referred to above).
26.
The authorities do not report anything new in respect of this recommendation.
27.
GRECO concludes that recommendation iv remains partly implemented.
III. CONCLUSIONS
28.
In view of the foregoing, GRECO concludes that there has been no progress
in Denmark’s level of implementation of the four recommendations
concerning members of parliament contained in the Fourth Round
Evaluation Report. Out of six recommendations in total, only two have been
implemented satisfactorily
(concerning judges and prosecutors, as noted in
previous reports), three remain only partly implemented and one not implemented
(all pending recommendations in respect of members of parliament).
More specifically, recommendations i, iii and iv remain partly implemented and
recommendation ii remains not implemented.
GRECO regrets that no single new measure has been reported by the Danish
Parliament to implement the recommendations concerning members of parliament
(MPs). Instead of elaborating ethical standards in the form of a code of conduct the
Parliament keeps referring to letters sent in 2015 and 2019 by former Speakers to
newly elected members to draw their attention to the importance of ethical conduct,
but without any reference to established standards. In the absence of a code, no
practical implementation measures, such as training and counselling, have been
taken and no supervision system is in place. Moreover, GRECO’s call for the public
registration system of occupations and financial interests of MPs to be developed
further has still not been heeded. This overall lack of progress regarding the
recommendations concerning MPs, more than seven years after the adoption of the
Evaluation Report, is disappointing, and much in contrast to other GRECO member
states.
In view of the above, GRECO cannot but conclude that the very low level of
compliance with the recommendations, remains “globally unsatisfactory” in the
meaning of Rule 31, paragraph 8.3 of its Rules of Procedure.
Pursuant to Rule 32, paragraph 2(i) of the Rules of Procedure, GRECO asks the Head
of the Danish delegation to provide a report on the progress made in implementing
recommendations i-iv as soon as possible, however – at the latest – by 30 September
2022.
In addition, in accordance with Rule 32, paragraph 2(ii) (b), GRECO invites the
President of the Statutory Committee to send a letter to the Permanent
Representative of Denmark to the Council of Europe drawing his attention to non-
compliance with the relevant recommendations and the need to take resolute steps
to achieve tangible progress as soon as possible.
Finally, GRECO invites the authorities of Denmark to authorise, as soon as possible,
the publication of the report, to translate the report into the national language and
to make this translation public.
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29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.