Konklusioner og anbefalinger fra UfM-PA's Komité om politik, sikkerhed og menneskerettigheder, der blev vedtaget på plenarsessionen i Jordan den 9. februar 2014

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Den Parlamentariske Fors. for EU-Middelhavsområdet
Til:
Dato:
Delegationens medlemmer og stedfortrædere
25. februar 2014
Konklusioner og anbefalinger fra UfM-PA's Komité om politik, sikkerhed
og menneskerettigheder, der blev vedtaget på plenarsessionen i Jordan
den 9. februar 2014
Hermed følger konklusioner og anbefalinger fra UfM-PA’s Komité om politik,
sikkerhed og menneskerettigheder, der blev vedtaget på plenarsessionen i
Jordan den 9. februar 2014.
Med venlig hilsen
Susanne Henriksen,
UfM-PA’s sekretariat
Den Parlamentariske Fors. for EU-Middelhavsområdet 2013-14
UfM-PA Alm.del Bilag 4
Offentligt (01)


PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE
UNION FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN
RECOMMENDATIONS
of the Committee on Political Affairs, Security and Human Rights
on asset recovery and efforts to tackle corruption in Europe and the southern
Mediterranean countries post-2011
(a) Tackling corruption
1. Points out that corruption is a problem which affects modern society throughout the world,
including on both sides of the Mediterranean and which undermines democracy and
contributes to the instability of political systems; it acts as a considerable drain on regional
GDP, is a barrier to foreign direct investment (FDI), hinders considerably procedures for
awarding public and private contracts and the effectiveness of bilateral and multilateral
cooperation, has a major impact on respect for human rights, social justice and political
credibility, and affects disproportionately the most disadvantaged and marginalised groups in
society;
2. Notes the growing political awareness of the need to tackle corruption, including tax
havens, tax evasion and illicit capital flight, and welcomes the adoption of appropriate
legislative frameworks and initiatives such as the Arab Region Parliamentarians Against
Corruption (ARPAC); criticises, however, the fact that these measures do not always have
the desired impact on the ground, in particular at local and regional levels;
3. Encourages all parliaments to ratify the relevant international conventions, including the
United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), and calls on governments to
apply fully and without delay these global instruments for tackling corruption;
4. Calls on the EU and the Member States of the PA-UfM to set anti-corruption criteria as part
of their bilateral and multilateral cooperation and to monitor progress towards meeting
these criteria by means of a peer assessment mechanism;
5. Urges the national PA-UfM parliaments to implement effective tools to improve
transparency, accountability and professionalism in the area of public contracts and to
strengthen the anti-corruption arrangements employed by public authorities; calls also for
the courts to pay closer attention to cases of corruption in the context of the award of private
contracts;
6. Encourages members of parliaments to actively support whistle-blowers, journalists, civil
society organisations and human rights activists tackling corruption by affording them
greater legal protection and ensuring that allegations of involvement in organised crime,
corruption or money laundering are not regarded as slanderous or libellous, assuming
there are well-founded grounds for making such allegations; stresses in particular the need to
promote transparency and accountability
7. Supports the establishment of a UN Special Rapporteur on financial crime, corruption and
human rights with a mandate which would be comprehensive but without prejudice to
national legislation;
Den Parlamentariske Fors. for EU-Middelhavsområdet 2013-14
UfM-PA Alm.del Bilag 4
Offentligt (01)
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EN
(b) Facilitating asset recovery
8. Stresses that asset recovery and determining the odious debt contracted under the former
regimes are a moral and legal imperative towards the countries and peoples of the Southern
Mediterranean and a crucial means of supporting economic development, and is therefore
key to the success of the democratic transitions in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya;
9. Stresses that the freezing of assets is an EU competence, but that recovery and repatriation
activities are EU Member State matters on the basis of national judiciaries; is aware,
therefore, of the technical, legal and judicial difficulties associated with effective asset
recovery, and believes that strong political will and genuine cooperation among multiple
national agencies in requested and requesting countries would enable more swift progress to
be made;
10. Calls on the parliaments of the countries concerned, therefore, to actively promote judicial
measures aimed at ensuring closer cooperation between police and judicial authorities in
the processing of requests to recover misappropriated funds;
11. Urges that the decisions taken at the Arab Forum on Asset Recovery (AFAR) in Marrakech
in October 2013 be followed up and calls on the EU-Tunisia and EU-Egypt working
groups to adopt a joint asset recovery road map for the European institutions and
governments involved; calls also for a working group on Libya to be established, in
cooperation with the international community;
12. Urges that the EU facilitate further the creation of teams of multidisciplinary experts
(investigators, prosecutors, lawyers, etc.) for the purpose of coordinating and exchanging
best practice.