GRECO – Fifth Round Evaluation Report on Luxembourg

Luxembourg is one of the founding members of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) of the Council of Europe, founded in 1999. It has hence been evaluated in the First (June 2001), Second (May 2004), Third (June 2008) and Forth (June 2013) Rounds. The Evaluation Reports as well as the Compliance Report are available on the GRECO website.

The Fifth Evaluation Round was launched on January 1^st 2017 with the objective to assess the effectiveness of the framework put into place by member states to prevent corruption among persons with top executive functions (ministers and senior civil servants appointed to political positions) and among members of the Grand Ducal Police. It aims to support the on-going reflection in the country as to how to strengthen transparency, integrity and accountability in public life.

To prepare this report, a GRECO evaluation team carried out an on-site visit to Luxembourg from November 13^th to 17^th 2017. Luxembourg’s responses to the “Evaluation questionnaire” were taken into account as well as other information received from civil society.

The Evaluation Report of the Fifth Round on Luxembourg was published on June 27^th 2018.

In its report, GRECO recalls that Luxembourg traditionally scores highly in international perception surveys on corruption. In paragraphs 150 to 57 mentioning the IGP, it marks down that the IGP is a relatively recent institution and a positive element in the mechanism for fighting corruption in the Luxembourg police. It also states that the reform on the IGP, by providing more independence and efficiency, is a step in the right direction, for instance in terms of recruitment conditions of the Inspector General who since 2015 must have a magistracy background and not a police career. Another laudable element mentioned is the political will to endow the IGP with its own staff and budget.

Finally, GRECO recommends that the General Police Inspectorate should be given the necessary resources to perform its tasks and that appropriate methods are established for recruiting qualified staff of integrity that receives adequate training.