Civil Society – Last Wall Against Proliferation of Organised Crime into Politics ?

1. Civil Society – Last Wall Against Proliferation of Organised Crime into Politics ? Project: „Rule of Law – Implementing a Comprehensive and Integrated Approach in Prevention and Fight against Corruption in the Danube Region“ Bulgaria, Blagoevgrad, February 27th – March 1st 2013

2. Section to Coordinate the Struggle Against Corruption www.vlada.cz The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

3. Milan Kryštof Čech, DBA e-mail: cech.milan.krystof@vlada.cz The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

4. The present situation on the field fight with organised crime - Pros effective combat with organised crime linked to • violence • trafficking (people, refugees, dangerous and prohibited things, drugs, etc.) • large-scale theft • insurance fraud The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

5. The present situation on the field fight with organised crime - Cons organised crime linked to corruption in economy has massive impact on • the state admistration • self-government • justice klientelistic networks are creating parallel power structures, capableinfluence decision-making intheir favor.* (*The public part of Comprehensive Annual Report Secret Service 2012) The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

6. The consequence for the Government • for the Government it is generally difficult to promote measures against corruption because some politicians participate in corruption relationshipsand refuse to participate in the government's efforts • some measures accepted despite this fact, suffered such changes during the legislative procedures, so their effectiveness is questionable The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

7. The consequence for the public sector • rapidly decline benefits from investment into infrastructure and public services • decreasing of the credibility of the state in obtaining grants from EU funds • worsens whole public administration and some ordinary problems become unsolvable The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

8. The consequence for the society • decreasing of confidence in the rule of law and a willingness to follow it • decreasing willingness to pay taxes properly and grow of sector of the informal (grey) economy • decreasing ofconfidence of people to members of Parliament and to the elected representatives in local governments • increasing of crime • decreasing of political culture ( 1 member of Parliament is for 5 years in prison for corruption, 1 member of Parliament is in custody on suspicion of corruption; both are still members of Parliament, receiving a salary and there is no a legal instrument to ablate their mandates against their will ) The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

9. Examples of the Government's success • in enforcement of the anti-corruption acts • establishment of the General Inspectorate of Security Forces (police, customs officers, prison service) as an independent body • stricter criminal penalties for corruption for public officials • refiningof the Institute of an cooperative accused • amendments to the Law on Public Procurement • ensuring of an access for special police body in to tax data (for the most serious crimes ) The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

10. Examples of the Government's success • in enforcement of non-legislative • anti-corruption measures • support for NGOs dealing with corruption • publication sales of public property (partly) • processing patternsethics code at all levels of elected representatives • introduction of a requirement on the local governments to issue an ethics code The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

11. Examples of the Government'sfailures • in enforcement • of the anti-corruption acts • the Corruption Impact Assessment (CIA) was not adopted as a law, the Government at least incorporate it into Legislative Rules since January 2013 as a minimalist version • the law on the regulation of lobbying – at first were required such changes, which would made it largely dysfunctional, neither after that the draft was not accepted The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

12. Analysis present situation • of the Government • anti-corruption measures for processes in public administration, lower officials and other aspects of public life thrives effectively to promote • corrective actions in the legislative procedure and other areas which elected representatives consider as their sovereign rights are for Government extremely complicated The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

13. The reaction of the civil society • creation of coordinated effort of NGOs - „Reconstruction of State“ (http://www.eps.cz/rekonstrukce-statu) - to promote key measures against organized political corruption that can be implemented during the current electoral period • (1.5 years left) in this areas • mandatory publication of contracts of public bodies • adoption of The Law on Financing of Political Parties • establishing clear rules for the selection, remuneration and dismissal of officials • introduction of so-called legislative trace to track who does what in the legislative process suggested The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

14. restrictions on amendments of acts through amendments of other acts which are not related with these problems • set rules for placement into leading positions in government and public companies (it is now occupied by present and former politicians, usually without the necessary knowledges) • introduce a property declaration demonstrating involvement of public officials in companies The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

15. What distinguishes this initiative from other NGO's activities • it is a joint project of the majority of NGOs which are interested on the fight against corruption • trying to get involved honorable politicians • seek the involvement of companies and entrepreneurs • proposed goals are minimalist and therefore are realisticallyachievable in the short term The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

16. What may be interesting in this platform for the Government • supports the legitimacy of the Government's efforts to fight corruption • provides extensive information database of problems and needs • helps to create pressure on those politicians who try to block the adoption of effective anti-corruption measures The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

17. What may be interesting in this platform for citizens • allow to differentiate the various policy positions of politicians according to these proposals • may provide guidance for electoral preferences in the next election • may provide guidance in the context of commercial relations between companies (especially big) • ultimately could improve the quality of everyday life The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

18. What may be interesting in this platform for politicians • gain support for his/hers anti-corruption activities in cases where they are not getting it in a political party or parliamentary club • helping to distinguish socially useful proposals and potentially problematic proposals without request additional resources and time The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

19. Conclusion • corruption has reached such an extent that a substantial part of the society wish a change • this effort is constructiveand non-confrontational • this effort is not the last wall against the proliferation of corruption into politics, but it is extremely important for its restriction and reduction of the time required for adoption of key measures This initiative of NGOs has the full support of Deputy Prime Minister and Head of theGovernmentCommittee to Coordinate the Struggle Against Corruption The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic

20. Thank you for your attention The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic