Remarks by Johannes Hahn on the occasion of meeting with Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions at the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv
Kyiv, 16 September 2016
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Anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine are
of key importance
for the EU. Corruption is still
the major impediment to the
country's economic and political development
and the EU has a strong interest
in a democratic and prosperous Ukraine.
Ukraine has adopted ambitious
anti-corruption legislation
and the EU has decided to
back the actions to be
taken by the government to ensure that
it is implemented
effectively. The EU has committed some
€16m to a major new initiative in support of
Ukraine's anti-corruption reforms.
We are happy that
the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) has agreed to implement
this initiative which is why
I am here today with the
Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Let me briefly outline
the three main elements of
the new initiative:
We want to boost
the capacity of the newly
created anti-corruption institutions to investigate, prosecute and sanction corruption.
This concerns the National Anti-corruption Bureau, the Specialised Anti-corruption prosecutor and the National
Agency for the Prevention of Corruption. Future anti-corruption courts could also
benefit from the initiative.
We want to strengthen
the capacity of the Verkhovna
Rada's Anti-corruption committee to scrutinise
corruption-related legislation and
to monitor reform implementation. We plan to
create an Advisory Board of international experts to help
the Rada with this task.
And we want to
foster the involvement of civil society and
the media in anti-corruption initiatives, in particular in the
regions. We will support local
authorities which back real change
and are ready
to cooperate with civil society
organisations to put in place
a full range of anti-corruption measures in the
municipalities.
Our overriding concern is to ensure
that anti-corruption reforms are not
held back by a lack of
resources or expertise. Thus a range of support
will be made
available – expertise, training, IT supplies, grants for anti-corruption organisations – adaptable to the
changing needs of the beneficiaries.
I am making a number
of points to all my
interlocutors here on this visit:
Firstly, reform must be
irreversible. We welcomed the launch
of the electronic
asset declaration system – but would
be very concerned
by any attempt
in the Rada
to water it down. Some
amendments have been put forward
recently that would seriously undermine anti-corruption efforts.
Delays in this area
have already left a bad impression.
No one should
forget that the Member States
of the European
Union are watching carefully as the final
decisions are taken on visa
liberalisation.
We attach great importance
to the work
of the anti-corruption bodies and it is
essential that they will be
allowed to work in full
independence and with the necessary
resources…. But also without unnecessary
rivalries and the kind of
unacceptable confrontations
we saw this
summer.
Work on the establishment
of anti-corruption courts should also
start as soon as possible
in order to put in
place also this important missing element of the overall
anti-corruption reform. We call on
the Rada to adopt as
soon as possible
the necessary legislation to create these courts,
and ensure their independence including through appropriate selection procedures of their
judges. The international community is ready to
assist in this process, including
by participating in the selection
procedure.
Finally, we think that
giving to the National Anti-corruption Bureau the right to
conduct wiretapping would enhance its
independence.
We count on you
to make real
change here in Ukraine. You
are working in an area
that is increasingly
seen as the
litmus test for the country.
We want to
help you succeed, in what
is, clearly, a very major challenge.
European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/commission/2014-2019/hahn/announcements/remarks-johannes-hahn-occasion-meeting-ukrainian-anti-corruption-institutions-verkhovna-rada-kyiv_en