Retsudvalget 2024-25
REU Alm.del Bilag 167
Offentligt
2988714_0001.png
Adoption: 24 March 2023
Confidential
GrecoRC4(2023)8
F
O
U
R
T
H
E
V
A
L
U
A
T
I
O
N
R
O
U
N
D
FOURTH EVALUATION ROUND
Corruption prevention in respect of members of
parliament, judges and prosecutors
THIRD
INTERIM
COMPLIANCE REPORT
DENMARK
Adopted by GRECO at its 93
rd
Plenary Meeting
(Strasbourg, 20-24 March 2023)
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
 REU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 167: Orientering om GRECO (Group of States Agains Corruption), fra justitsministeren
2988714_0002.png
I.
1.
INTRODUCTION
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 addressed in total six recommendations to
Denmark.
The
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.
In the
Second Interim Compliance Report,
adopted by GRECO at its 88th plenary
meeting (22 September 2021) and made public on 25 November 2021, it was
concluded that Denmark had made no progress in implementing the four
recommendations concerning members of parliament contained in the Fourth Round
Evaluation Report. Out of six recommendations in total, only two had been
implemented satisfactorily, while three were partly implemented and one not
implemented. GRECO therefore concluded that the level of compliance with the
recommendations remained “globally unsatisfactory” within the meaning of Rule 31
paragraph 8.3 of the Rules of Procedure. In accordance with Rule 32, paragraph 2,
subparagraph ii.b), GRECO called on 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.
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 30 September 2022, a deadline that was exceptionally extended
to 16 January 2023.
On 3 March 2023, 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 Third 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 this Third Interim Compliance Report.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
2
 REU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 167: Orientering om GRECO (Group of States Agains Corruption), fra justitsministeren
2988714_0003.png
II.
ANALYSIS
Corruption prevention in respect of members of parliament
9.
It is recalled that GRECO addressed four recommendations to Denmark in its
Evaluation Report in respect of members of parliament. In the Second 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.
Recommendation i
10.
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 already in the
Compliance Report. The authorities had reported that the former Speaker of the
Danish Parliament had sent a letter addressed to elected members of Parliament
before general elections in 2015 as well as shortly after the elections in 2019. The
content of the letters was similar and GRECO has repeatedly held in subsequent
compliance reports 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.
Recommendation ii
14.
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 encouragement. They 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.
Nothing new was reported in the last Second Interim Compliance Report and the
recommendation remained not implemented.
The authorities of Denmark do not report anything new in respect of this
recommendation.
GRECO concludes that recommendation ii remains not implemented.
11.
12.
13.
15.
16.
17.
6
 REU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 167: Orientering om GRECO (Group of States Agains Corruption), fra justitsministeren
2988714_0004.png
Recommendation iii
18.
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. No new information
was provided, and the recommendation remained partly implemented in the Second
Interim Compliance Report.
The authorities do not report anything new in respect of this recommendation.
GRECO concludes that recommendation iii remains partly implemented.
Recommendation iv
22.
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
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. Nothing new was reported and the
recommendation remained partly implemented in the Second Interim Compliance
Report.
The authorities do not report anything new in respect of this recommendation.
GRECO concludes that recommendation iv remains partly implemented.
19.
20.
21.
23.
24.
25.
III. CONCLUSIONS
26.
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
6
 REU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 167: Orientering om GRECO (Group of States Agains Corruption), fra justitsministeren
2988714_0005.png
previous reports), three remain only partly implemented and one not implemented
(all pending recommendations in respect of members of parliament).
27.
28.
More specifically, recommendations i, iii and iv remain partly implemented and
recommendation ii remains not implemented.
GRECO regrets again 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 eight years after the adoption of the
Evaluation Report, is much disappointing, and in contrast to other GRECO member
states.
In view of the above, GRECO cannot but again 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 31 March
2024.
In addition, in accordance with Rule 32, paragraph 2(ii) (c) GRECO invites the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe to send a letter to the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Denmark, drawing the attention to non-compliance with the relevant
recommendations.
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.
29.
30.
31.
32.
6