Conflict of interest policies: effectiveness and best practice in Europe
ABBREVIATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS List of conflict-of-interest items used in the study
Abbreviation Description
a1 Political activities a2 Honorary positions
a3 Conferences
a4 Publications
a5 Specific rules on incompatibility of posts and professional activities b1 Declaration of financial interests and assets
b2 HPO’s spouse’s activities
b3 Provisions relating to the declaration of interests c1 Accepting gifts, decorations or distinctions
c2 Missions, travel
c3 Rules on receptions and representation
Restrictions on professional commitments or holding other posts after leaving
d1 Office
e1 General rules on impartiality and conflict e2 Professional confidentiality
List of other issues included in the study Abbreviation Description
f1 Ethics committee or advisory group f2 Declaration of financial interests
g Challenges in managing CoI policies and standards g1 Difficulties to manage revolving-door issues
g2 Managing post-employment and CoI arising when HPOs leave their positions g3 Lack of qualified experts who can monitor declarations of interest
g4 Difficulties when managing declarations on CoI because of lack of financial resources g5 Political reluctance to sanction ministers and HPOs in cases of CoI
g6 Difficulties to judge whether individual cases constitute CoI (so called grey zones) g7 Too high tolerance as regards CoI of ministers
g8 High complexity of the issue as stake
g9 General trends towards more politicization in appointment procedures
Values
0 No
1 Yes
9 Missing value
h1 New innovative policies and management practices Values
i1 Following trends have the following effects Values
Reg_Den_Perc Regulation Density Percentage 0-100 (%)
Reg_Den_2007 Regulation Density 2007 0-100 (%)
country_geo Member states by categorized by geography
1 Sweden, Latvia (Finland) (Nordic + Latvia)
2 Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia (Central Europe)
3 Spain, Portugal (Southern Europe)
4 France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Austria (Continental Europe)
country_admin_typo Member states categorized by administrative typology
1 Spain, Belgium, Luxemburg, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, France (Classical Systems)
2 Sweden, Netherlands, Austria, Latvia (More private sector like - managerial systems)
3 Poland, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Finland, Portugal (Hybrid Systems)
country_membership Member states categorized by membership period
1 Early Membership: France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Sweden, Finland, Austria
2 Late Membership: Romania, Bulgaria, Czech, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Latvia, Hungary
Cor_Index_2007 Corruption Index by Transparency International (Perceived by experts) 0-100 (Points)
Cor_Index_2019 Corruption Index by Transparency International (Perceived by experts) 0-100 (Points)
Cor_Index_Change 0-100 (Points)
Trust_Gallup_2007 Trust Index by Gallup World Poll 2007 (Citizens Poll) 0-100 (%)
Trust_Gallup_2018 Trust Index by Gallup World Poll 2018 (Citizens Poll) 0-100 (%)
Trust_Gallup_Change 0-100 (%)
Cor_Tolerance_2020 Acceptability of Corruption by Eurobarometer 2020 (Citizens Poll) 0-100 (%) Values show people indicating that corruption is unacceptable
Cor_Perception_2020 How widespread is corruption in your country (Citizens Poll) 0-100 (%) Values show people believing that corruption is total widespread
Cor_Existance_2007 Is corruption a major problem in respective country (Citizens Poll) 0-100 (%) Values show people agreeing that corruption is a major problem
Cor_Existance_2020 Does Corruption exist in your country (Citizens Poll)
0-100 (%) Values show people believing that corruption exists in national institutions
Cor_Politicians_2020 Is bribery and abuse of power widespread among politicians (Citizens Poll)
0-100 (%) Values show people who mentioned they believe that bribery is widespread among politicians
Cor_Parties_2020 Is bribery and abuse of power widespread among political parties (Citizens Poll)
0-100 (%) Values show people who mentioned they believe that bribery is widespread among political parties
Ties_Pol_Econ_2020 Ties between Politics and Businesses lead to corruption (Citizens Poll) 0-100 (%) Values show people agreeing that too close ties between business and
politics lead to corruption
Cor_Prevention_2007 Sufficient prosecutions to deter people from giving or receiving bribes (Citizens Poll)
0-100 (%) Values show people agreeing that there are enough successful persecutions to deter people from giving or accepting bribes
Cor_Pursued_2020 Corruption cases not pursued sufficiently in respective country (Citizens Poll)
0-100 (%) Values show people agreeing that cases are not pursued sufficiently Cor_Effectiveness_2020 Government combats corruption effectively (Citizens Poll)
0-100 (%) Values show people agreeing that government combats corruption effectively
Cor_Impartiality_2020 Are anti-corruption measures applied impartially (Citizens Poll)
0-100 (%) Values show people agreeing that anti-corruption measures are applied impartially
Democracy_2019 Satisfaction with functioning of democracy in respective country (Citizens Poll)
0-100 (%) Values show people satisfied with the way democracy works in their country
RoL_Improvement_2019 Need for improvement in RoL accross 17 issues (Citizens Poll) 1-10 Index based on peoples’ answers on multiple issues
Imp_Pers_Gain Importance that Public Officials don't use their positions for personal gain (Citizens Poll)
0-100 (%) Values show people mentioning that issue in question is essential or important
Imp_Codes_Ethics Importance that Public Officials follow Codes of Ethics (Citizens Poll) 0-100 (%) Values show people mentioning that issue in question is essential or
important
Improvement_Pers_Gain Improvement needed concerning personal gain through public office (Citizens Poll)
0-100 (%) Values show people answering that issue in question needs or somewhat needs to be improved
Improvement_Codes_Ethics Improvement needed concerning clear codes of ethics (Citizens Poll) 0-100 (%) Values show people answering that issue in question needs or somewhat
needs to be improved
Cor_Effectiveness Freedom House: Are safeguards against official corruption strong and effective (0 (worst) – 4 (best)) (Index)
Democracy Democracy Index by Economist Intelligence Unit (0 (worst) – 10 (best)) (Index)
RoL Rule of Law Index by World Justice Project (0-100 (re-calculated;
originally 0-1))
GovInt Government Integrity by Heritage Foundation (0 (high corruption) – 100 (low corruption)
GovEffect Government Effectiveness by World Bank Group (-2 (bad) – 2 (good)) Democracy_Bert Democracy Index by Bertelsmann Foundation (0-10)
PE 651.697
Print ISBN 978-92-846-6689-8 | doi: 10.2861/674184 | QA-02-20-331-EN-C PDF ISBN 978-92-846-6688-1 | doi: 10.2861/09186 | QA- QA-02-20-331-EN-N
This comparative study - commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs - analyses the effectiveness of relevant rules, policies and practices within Member States regarding conflict of interest for top political appointment (Head of Government, Ministers and other high ranking officials).
The research highlights the theoretical and practical aspects of the notion of conflict of interest, giving some policy recommendations