Greater transparency in the funding of political parties and a more punitive approach to corruption are among 16 recommendations made in a new report on Italy published today.
The Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has identified critical shortcomings in the party funding system of Italy and says anonymous donations to political parties must be banned.
It is “particularly concerned” about the effectiveness of the sanctioning regime for corruption offences in Italy and the high risk of prosecuted cases being dismissed as time barred.
GRECO urges political parties to develop their own internal control systems and to subject their accounts to independent audit. It also says transparency in political finances could be improved by lowering substantially the 50,000 EUR threshold under which the identity of the donor remains unknown to the public.
The corruption-busters also want Italy to ratify the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and its Additional Protocol and to fully incorporate them into national law. Italy is one of the very few member states which are not party to these instruments.
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