GRECO Report: Luxembourg Gradually Implementing Anti-Corruption Recommendations

On Monday 28 March 2022, the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) published a compliance report on Luxembourg.

This report assesses the progress of the Grand Duchy in the implementation of the recommendations issued in the Fourth Round Evaluation Report on prevention of corruption in respect of members of parliament (MPs), judges and prosecutors.

In this new report, GRECO concluded that Luxembourg had made some progress in implementing its recommendations since the October 2020 Interim Compliance Report. Six of the fourteen recommendations contained in the Evaluation Report have now been satisfactorily implemented. The eight other recommendations have now all been partly implemented.

With regard to MPs, GRECO deemed positive the creation of a public transparency register on lobbying and the prohibition on MPs contacting third parties not on the register, as well as improvements to the declaration system for MPs. However, the report found that no progress had been made with regard to the introduction of an effective system of monitoring and sanctions concerning breaches of the code of conduct for MPs.

With regard to judges and prosecutors, GRECO welcomed the fact that the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg's Parliament) had approved the draft revision of Chapter VI of the Constitution of Luxembourg, which would enshrine the independence of the prosecution service at the highest legal level. Full implementation of the recommendations remains pending, however, until the final adoption of this chapter and the setting up of the National Judicial Council, which has an impact on the recommendations regarding the promotion of members of the judiciary, management of the courts (and the prosecution service), the Council’s role in determining and monitoring rules on ethics and the disciplinary liability of members of the judiciary.

GRECO thus concluded that the Grand Duchy's current level of compliance with the recommendations is no longer "globally unsatisfactory". Nevertheless, GRECO has invited Luxembourg's leaders to provide a report on the measures taken to implement the outstanding recommendations as soon as possible but by 31 March 2023 at the latest.

The full report is available (in English) to download from https://rm.coe.int/fourth-evaluation-round-corruption-prevention-in-respect-of-members-of/1680a5f164.

GRECO is a Council of Europe body that aims to improve the capacity of its members to fight corruption by monitoring their compliance with anti-corruption standards. It helps states to identify deficiencies in national anti-corruption policies, prompting the necessary legislative, institutional and practical reforms.