The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) launched its 6th Evaluation Round on 20 March 2025, with the participation and training of over 82 evaluators for the new round from 44 member states. This new round will focus on preventing corruption and promoting integrity at the sub-national level.

GRECO will examine the system of government at the national and sub-national levels, the distribution of competencies, and the role of national authorities in promoting integrity and preventing corruption at the sub-national level. It will assess the applicability and implementation of national anti-corruption policies and/or strategies and results achieved with respect to corruption offences at the sub-national level. The evaluation will also cover the institutional framework of sub-national authorities, including their anti-corruption and integrity policies, risk assessments, standards of conduct, ethics regulations, and measures to address conflicts of interest. Particular attention will be given to transparency, access to information, public participation, oversight and accountability mechanisms, as well as the reporting of corruption, whistleblower protection, and the enforcement of relevant rules and sanctions.

Through this evaluation round, GRECO aims to strengthen integrity and transparency at the sub-national level, ensuring that anti-corruption policies are effectively implemented across its member states.

The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has released a new comprehensive study analysing efforts to promote integrity and prevent corruption within top executive functions of central governments and law enforcement agencies, as part of its ongoing 5th evaluation round.

The study finds that notable progress has been made in enhancing access to information and improving transparency. Particularly slow progress was observed regarding top executive functions in implementing integrity checks, post-employment restrictions, strengthening declaration review mechanisms, and regulating contacts with lobbyists and third parties.

The report underscores the  need for clearer rules to manage perceived, potential and real conflicts of interests, for the oversight of asset declarations, more transparency in lobbying activities, as well as more effective implementation of integrity frameworks and stronger oversight to ensure public accountability at the highest levels of government.

The most challenging areas in law enforcement agencies include declarations of assets, income, liabilities and interests, rotation and mobility policy, recruitment requirements and appointment procedures, as well as integrity checks.

The new study aims to enrich GRECO’s knowledge base and serve as a valuable resource for those committed to preventing corruption. By highlighting how key actors within core democratic institutions can uphold the integrity of public service, the study encourages broader engagement with good governance practices. It also seeks to support these actors directly by identifying emerging trends and effective practices that can enhance their ability to prevent corruption within their own ranks.

In its 2024 annual report , GRECO expresses serious concern about persistent threats to judicial independence in some member states. While acknowledging positive reforms in some countries, it urges states to strengthen the structures separating the three branches of power.

GRECO also calls for legislative reforms to close loopholes in the transparency of political funding by setting up stronger enforcement mechanisms and adopting deterrent sanctions for violations of political financing rules. The report notes that developments in recent years have shown the need to improve mechanisms to ensure the transparency of political financing and to update existing anti-corruption standards on party and electoral campaign financing.

In its annual report, GRECO found that the general level of compliance with its 5th evaluation round recommendations continued to be insufficient. By the end of 2024, it had published reports on 26 states evaluating compliance with these recommendations. According to the follow-up reports published as of 31 December 2024, states had fully or partly implemented 63% of GRECO’s recommendations concerning top executive functions of central governments (compared to 58% at the end of 2023). As regards law enforcement agencies, the proportion of fully or partly implemented recommendations grew from 67% to 71% between 2023 and 2024.

Regarding the 4th evaluation round on preventing corruption concerning MPs, judges and prosecutors, as of 31 December 2024, GRECO members states had fully implemented 59% of the recommendations and had partly implemented 29%. 12% of GRECO recommendations remained non-implemented. The highest proportion of non-implemented recommendations concerned MPs (16.6%) compared to judges (10.9%) and prosecutors (8.4%).

It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the passing of Björn Janson on 8 June 2025, at the age of 66.

A judge by training and mindset, Björn served the Council of Europe with distinction since 1991. In 2001, he joined the Secretariat of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), where he contributed significantly to its mission. He was promoted to Deputy Executive Secretary of GRECO in 2016, a position he held until 2021. That year, he was appointed Ethics Officer of the Council of Europe — a role that reflected the trust and respect he enjoyed across the Organisation until his retirement in 2024.

Björn was widely appreciated for his wisdom, integrity, and calm presence. Björn took on some of the most complex evaluation work within GRECO, always offering unwavering support to experts. His empathy, professionalism, and respectful engagement with all interlocutors helped foster the climate of trust essential to GRECO’s effectiveness and reputation.

Above all, Björn was a generous colleague whose good humour and grounded nature enriched all those around him. The GRECO family, and the wider Council of Europe, has lost a valued colleague and friend. Björn Janson will be sincerely missed..

5th Round: Preventing corruption and promoting integrity in central governments (top executive functions) and law enforcement agencies

Albania – 2nd Compliance Report

Austria – 2nd Compliance Report

Bosnia and Herzegovina – Evaluation Report

Bulgaria – Compliance Report

Denmark – 2nd Compliance Report

Liechtenstein – Evaluation Report

Netherlands – Addendum to the 2nd Compliance Report

North Macedonia – Addendum to the 2nd Compliance Report

Norway – 2nd Compliance Report

Spain – 2nd Compliance Report

Sweden – Addendum to the 2nd Compliance Report

4th Round: Prevention of corruption in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors

Austria – 3rd Interim Compliance Report

Bosnia and Herzegovina – 3rd Interim Compliance Report

Denmark – 4th Interim Compliance Report

Poland – 3rd  Interim Compliance Report including follow-up to the Ad Hoc (Rule 34) Report

Spain – 2nd Addendum to the 2nd Compliance Report

Ukraine – Addendum to the 2nd Compliance Report

Plenary Meetings

GRECO 99, 17-19 March 2025

GRECO 100, 3-6 June 2025

Below are set out certain final rulings delivered by the European Court of Human Rights, presented in a chronological order, which may be of particular interest to the GRECO community:

Cavca v. the Republic of Moldova (no. 21766/22, 9 January 2025) concerns the alleged use of entrapment as part of personal integrity testing in the context of fight against corruption, leading to disciplinary dismissal of the applicant (a public official). Relying on Article 6 § 1 (fair hearing), the applicant alleges that the proceedings in his case were unfair, mainly because the courts did not examine his entrapment plea. Breach of Article 6 § 1.

Denysyuk and Others v. Ukraine (no. 22790/19 and 3 others, 13 February 2025) concerns covert audio and video monitoring of the first applicant and interception of the second and third applicants’ telephone communications in the context of police operations carried out during criminal proceedings in connection to a large-scale corruption scheme or a scheme involving the diversion of State funds against them, giving rise to a complaint under Article 8 (private life and correspondence). Breach of Article 8.

Girginova v. Bulgaria (no. 4326/18, 4 March 2025) concerns the refusal of a journalist’s request for access to the reasons for the acquittal of a former Minister of Internal Affairs after the high-profile criminal case against him was classified, giving rise to a complaint under Article 10 (freedom to receive and impart information). Breach of Article 10.

Kulák v. Slovakia (no. 57748/21, 3 April 2025) concerns the search of applicant’s law firm and seizure of his work computer for a period of almost fifteen months, on the basis of the prosecutor’s telephone consent, without a written search warrant, giving rise to a complaint under Article 8 (private life and home). Breach of Article 8

Green v. the United Kingdom (no. 22077/19, 8 April 2025) concerns the use of parliamentary privilege by a Member of Parliament to disclose on the floor of the House the applicant’s identity subject to an interim privacy injunction pending trial, and the inability to bring civil proceedings against that Member of Parliament for breach of the injunction, giving rise to complaints under Articles 8 (private life) and 6 § 1 (access to a court). No violation of Article 8. Article 6 § 1 complaint inadmissible.

Bădescu and Others v. Romania
(no. 22198/18 and 2 others, 15 April 2025) concerns the lack of foreseeability of the offence of abuse of office for which the applicants – judges – were convicted in connection with a judicial decision they had taken, giving rise to a complaint under Article 7 § 1 (no punishment without law). Inadmissible in respect of the third applicant. No breach of Article 7 in respect of the first and second applicants.

Sytnyk v. Ukraine (no. 16497/20, 24 April 2025) concerns alleged unfairness of administrative-offence proceedings resulting in the conviction of a high-level anti-corruption official for accepting gifts and the subsequent inclusion of his name for an indefinite period in a publicly accessible register of corrupt officials, giving rise to complaints under Article 6 § 1 (fair hearing; impartial tribunal); Article 8 (private life); Article 18 (restrictions for unauthorised purposes) taken together with Articles 6 and 8. Breach of Article 6 § 1. Breach of Article 8. Breach of Article 18 taken together with Articles 6 and 8.

Sadomski v. Poland (no. 56297/21, 9 May 2025) concerns the President of Poland’s appointment of judges to the Supreme Court’s Civil Chamber, despite binding interim order staying the implementation of the resolution they were based on and pending its judicial review, and legislature’s intervention ruling out the right to judicial review in such cases, giving rise to a complaint under Article 6 § 1 (access to a court). Breach of Article 6 § 1.

Păcurar v. Romania (no. 17985/18, 24 June 2025) concerns non-conviction-based confiscation of unexplained assets from high-ranking police chief on the basis of sufficiently clear and foreseeable legal framework on integrity in public office, giving rise to complaints under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention (fair hearing) and Article 1 of protocol No. 1 to the Convention (peaceful enjoyment of possessions). No breach of Article 6 § 1. No breach of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1

A.R. v. the United Kingdom (no. 6033/19, 1 July 2025) concerns disclosure by the police, in the context of enhanced employment vetting, of information that the applicant had been charged with rape and acquitted at trial, with a description of the circumstances of the alleged offence, giving rise to a complaint under Article 8 (respect for private life) of the Convention. Breach of Article 8.