High-level Political Conference for the Purpose of Signing the United Nations Convention against Corruption, Merida 9-11 December 2003

 

SPEECH  by    Minister Roberto Castelli

 

Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates

 

I have the honor to take the floor as President of the Council of Ministers of the European Union.

 

Mr. Chairman, ,

 

The European Union would like to express, first of all, its sincere and most heartfelt thanks to the Government of Mexico for the organization of this High-level Political Conference and for the kind and warm hospitality offered to us in this splendid town.

 

This Conference represents an occasion of great value for the promotion of our common efforts in the struggle against corruption, and a particularly significant step on the way to the entry into force of the Convention against Corruption.

 

Three years ago, in December 2000, a conference was held in Palermo, Italy, for the signature of the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. We are sure that this Conference will achieve the same, or even more, positive results.

 

Mr. Chairman

 

Now that we are gathered to sign the Convention, I wish to pay tribute to the memory of the late Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, ambassador Hector Charry Samper.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

The European Union attaches particular importance to preventing and combating corruption. We continue to implement a comprehensive EU policy against corruption, by - inter alia - the adoption of regional legal instruments.         Article 29          of the Treaty on European Union lists the prevention and combating of corruption as one objective enabling the creation and safeguarding of a European area of freedom, security and justice.

 

The term "corruption" includes a wide range of various criminal behaviors, all having in common that they not only undermine ethics and justice, but also seriously jeopardize social and economic development of peoples. At the Johannesburg Declaration of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002 corruption was already identified and declared as a threat to sustainable development and eradication of poverty.

 

Transparency, good governance, and accountability are, without a doubt, fundamental conditions for the establishment of a sound political, administrative and economic environment. On the contrary, corruption - as well as other related illicit practices, such as covert financial trafficking and the transfer abroad of funds of illicit origin - impoverishes national economies and affects the government ability to provide basic services to its citizens and to support correct and productive economic initiatives. At the same time, corruption undermines democratic institutions and the rule­of-law and weakens stability and security of societies.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

In this context, the Convention today open for signature testifies the common political will to tackle with the problem at planetary level in a coordinated manner, but - more important - it also offers a practical set of means helping individual States and the international community in carrying on their efforts against corruption. In fact, the Convention creates a legal framework within which both appropriate national policies and measures, on the one hand, and indispensable international cooperation activities on the other hand, can be established and effectively implemented.

 

We owe this result to the constructive spirit and the intense participation of the national delegations, and, in particular, to the dedication of the Secretariat - to whom we would like to reiterate our gratitude.

 

These have permitted the adoption of a large range of high standard and universally acceptable provisions, which amount to an organic and complete legal system where the law enforcement tools are well balanced by an extensive chapter on prevention measures.

 

Corruption is also inextricably linked to a broad variety of social and economic factors. It can be deeply rooted in traditional social and economic features of a certain society; at the same time it is a potentially pervasive phenomenon that can involve various sectors of the economic life of a country and can evolve into a multiplicity of different forms. Thus, an approach based only on the suppression of the most common illicit behaviors may prove insufficient to assure a satisfactory system of control; while a dynamic national policy based on prevention becomes necessary.

 

With regard to both public and private sectors - such a policy should take into account the need of reinforcing ethical values, issuing regulations which can work as obstacles or as a deterrent to the engagement in corrupted practices, and of promoting and sustaining the participation of the civil society. To this end, we believe that the obligations and the guidelines contained in the Convention will be of great help in the establishment of adequate preventive countermeasures at national level.

 

We equally appreciate the provisions of the Convention on the issue of assets recovery, with particular regard to the measures to prevent and combat the transfer of funds of illicit origin and to cooperate in returning such funds. The diversion of resources by corrupt parties can significantly affect the economy of a country, often with a negative impact on the life of the most vulnerable part of population - the poor. The articles on assets recovery strengthening the capability of States to cooperate in detectingthe transfer of illicit funds, and returning them, represent - in our view - a valuable component of the Convention.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

In conclusion, the European Union would like to underline that an instrument like this Convention - complex and, in certain respects, innovative - requires considerable efforts to be fully implemented. International assistance and other mechanisms to facilitate implementation, especially by the less developed countries, will be necessary. We welcome, therefore, the provisions of the Convention that provide schemes for technical assistance and those that mandate the Conference of the Parties to act as a "focal point" for the facilitation of international cooperation to that purpose.

 

In the immediate future, the United Nations - in particular the Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna - should receive adequate support for the promotion of the ratification of the Convention and we would like to appeal to all the States to make contributions to that end or to directly take initiatives. The EU upholds that the Conference of the States Parties should establish a monitoring mechanism for full and rapid implementation of the convention. That mechanism should ensure an equivalent level of commitment by all Parties to the Convention, be effective and offer a degree of flexibility.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

I am sure that all the Member States of the European Union (and the European Community) are committed to an early ratification of the convention, once it has been signed, and to participation in the action of the international community in promoting its entry into force and implementation.

 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.