6 December 2024 –

In a step towards stronger civil society engagement with anti-corruption agencies, the UNCAC Coalition was invited for the first time to take part in the Annual Conference of the European network of anti-corruption agencies and police oversight bodies EPAC/EACN, held on 26-27 November 2024.

The Coalition’s regional coordinator for Europe provided an (online) presentation on “National strategies and engaging with civil society in monitoring anti-corruption”, highlighting contributions of civil society to build resilient anti-corruption frameworks and move forth the anti-corruption agenda. We mentioned concrete cases where the UNCAC Coalition and many of our member organizations are impacting reform efforts. 

As key takeaways from the event, we noted significant interest from anti-corruption agencies in improving and unlocking the potential of asset declarations. Several agencies expressed both their ambitions and challenges in transitioning to fully electronic and unified systems, improving verification processes and adopting more transparent and “citizen-friendly” formats. 

Integrity in public procurement also emerged as a critical focus, with discussions centered on advancing automated and standardized systems to enhance transparency and protect contracting processes from political abuse.

On asset recovery, the recently established Committee of Experts in Criminal Asset Recovery (PC- RAC) within the Council of Europe (CoE) will work throughout 2025 on a Protocol to the “Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism”, to build a common legal framework for CoE countries.