Austria – good and bad news on corruption
Last week Austria had a good news/bad news week on corruption. There were two articles that provided some insights. On the good news side the former Finance Minister, Karl-Heinz Grasser, was sentenced to four years in prison for corruption crimes. He had been found guilty in 2020 “of fraud, accepting illicit gifts and falsifying evidence, in a scandal centering on the role he played during the sale of thousands of state-owned homes to private investors two decades ago.” This has been the longest sentence of any senior governmental official in Austria ever. This is important, even though it might have been a bit long time coming, but nonetheless it shows that senior government officials are not above the law and should provide a warning to others.
On the other side, the Council of Europe noted that “GRECO [Group of States against Corruption] concludes that Austria must substantially step up its response, as the vast majority of recommendations remain partly implemented or not implemented in this Compliance Report. Only three out of nineteen recommendations have been dealt with in a satisfactory manner. Of the outstanding sixteen recommendations, eleven remain partly implemented and five remain not implemented.” The report was very clear that there is significant work which needs to occur to bring the parliament and courts up to the acceptable standards.
These articles shows us that anti-corruption is an ongoing process, even in developed countries, and more always needs to be done in anti-corruption. The GRECO report highlighted the challenges and issues that exist in Austria, even though there is obvious support governmentally when addressing corruption.
What should be the next steps. As always there is a need for civil society to help the Austrian government be more accountable and second that positive anti-corruption steps, including enforcement, should be applauded.
Links:
https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/austria-must-step-up-fight-against-corruption-new-reports-warn