[PIO] Speech by Ms Irene Charalambidou, Vice President of the OSCE CS and Special Representative for Combating Corruption

The Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) and Special Representative of the Assembly on Combating Corruption, Ms Irini Charalambidou, participated yesterday as a speaker at the OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum in Prague.

In the context of a session on the role of New Technologies in enhancing economic resilience, promoting good governance and preventing corruption in the OSCE region, Ms Charalambidou noted the important role that national parliaments can play in efforts to prevent and combat corruption, both as legislators and by exercising parliamentary control. She stressed, however, that parliaments also often face challenges, citing specific examples that recently shocked the European Parliament and Cyprus.

The existence of strong institutions, as well as adequate checks and balances, Ms Charalambidou stressed, are key elements in the fight against corruption, highlighting in particular the role of accountability and conflict of interest regulation.

Referring to the need for political will in order for efforts to combat corruption to succeed, Ms. Charalambidou stressed that while this is a key factor, it is not sufficient on its own. Politicians, Ms Charalambidou said, demonstrate political will when there is pressure from citizens, non-governmental organisations, journalists and activists, who can and should push for the consolidation of the political system. Nor can the development of New Technologies alone address the multidimensional challenge of corruption, but combined with the necessary political will, it can have a positive impact, Ms. Charalambidou pointed out.

She added that open data enhances transparency by contributing to a more effective fight against corruption and enables citizens to demand more accountability. Free access by competent authorities and citizens to relevant assets, public expenditure and other data of a financial nature, Ms Charalambidou noted, can help identify cases of money laundering and other illegal transactions. For this reason, she stressed, the freedom of the media to access, investigate and analyse such data must be preserved.

Further, she said that transparency is enhanced by the reach and immediacy of social media, which allow for the rapid dissemination of findings on corruption cases, while also enabling citizens to express their dissatisfaction with corruption practices.

Ms. Charalambidou also noted that cooperation with relevant international organisations such as the OECD, GRECO and the World Bank is of key importance for states and their expertise should be utilised. Finally, he underlined the readiness of the OSCE CSO to work with all relevant partners to strengthen relevant policies, develop innovative strategies and empower citizens to be able to fully exploit the potential of new digital technologies and contribute to enhancing transparency and accountability in the OSCE region.

(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)

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