The Council of Europe's Group of states against corruption (GRECO) has released two new assessments of the steps taken by Belgium to prevent corruption and promote integrity, firstly among members of parliament, judges and prosecutors, and secondly in central government and law-enforcement agencies.
Anti-corruption measures concerning MPs, judges and prosecutors
The first publication completes GRECO's evaluation of measures taken by Belgium to implement 15 GRECO recommendations published in August 2014 relating to members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. GRECO concludes that eight of those recommendations have now been implemented and seven remain partly implemented.
Concerning parliamentarians, GRECO notes that measures have been taken to introduce regular training on integrity matters and discussions continue to be held on topics such as rules on gifts and dealings with lobbyists. Overall, however, GRECO regrets that its recommendations have been taken into account only to a very limited extent, and the main issues identified in its 2014 evaluation report remain unresolved.
GRECO welcomes the many improvements made with regard to judges and prosecutors, particularly with respect to ethics, recruitment, training and the disciplinary framework. Only one GRECO recommendation in this area, concerning arrangements for assigning cases between judges, remains partly implemented.
Many recommendations regarding central government yet to be implemented
The second publication concludes that Belgium has only implemented eight of 22 recommendations issued by GRECO in January 2020 on preventing corruption in central government and law-enforcement agencies.
GRECO notes that progress has been minimal with regard to people in senior positions in central government. Many of GRECO's recommendations have yet to be implemented, and others are still at the stage of preliminary consultations or declarations of intent.
The trend is more positive with regard to the federal police, where there is increased stability at senior management level and measures have been taken to regulate outside activities more effectively. However, some recommendations have yet to be addressed, including on the effectiveness of internal control and declarations of assets/interests.
Overall, GRECO concludes that Belgium is not sufficiently complying with its recommendations concerning central government and law-enforcement agencies. GRECO has asked Belgium to report back on progress on implementing its outstanding recommendations in these areas by 30 November 2026.
Group of states against corruption
