Established in 1999 by the Council of Europe, the Group of States against Corruption, or GRECO, is a multilateral body that monitors member states’ compliance with its anti-corruption standards. The United States joined GRECO in 2000 and is one of only two non-European member states. The United States commends the important work of GRECO over the last 25 years in mobilizing international action in countering corruption.
Through GRECO, the United States regularly participates in evaluations of other countries’ anti-corruption frameworks and avails itself to receiving recommendations from other countries. Through this peer review process, member states identify deficiencies in national anti-corruption policies, create recommendations, and monitor progress.
Since 2012, GRECO member states have implemented over 500 recommendations to prevent corruption and promote integrity with respect to members of parliament, judges, prosecutors, law enforcement, and persons with top executive functions in central governments. This includes the creation of national anti-corruption strategies, the development of codes of conduct, the establishment of policies and procedures to manage conflicts of interest, the institutionalization of rules for lobbying and asset declarations, the strengthening of freedom of information frameworks, the advancement of whistleblower protections, and more. As a result, member states have changed laws, implemented improved practices, and established or reformed institutions. Authorities are now better able to cope with corruption than ever before.
The United States celebrates this milestone while also recognizing much more work needs to be done to prevent and combat corruption around the globe.
For further information, please contact INL-PAPD@state.gov or follow @StateINL on Twitter/X, and visit https://www.coe.int/en/web/greco .
