Monitoring Anti-Corruption Policy implementation in Europe

MACPI (Monitoring Anti-Corruption Policy implementation) was developed in 2014-2015 as an innovative tool to assess the effectiveness of anti-corruption policies and measures at the institutional level. Since then, it has been implemented in over 30 public organisations in Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Romania, North Macedonia, Bosna and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and other European countries. The MACPI diagnostic cycle consists of a benchmarking scan, analysis of initial results, formulation of recommendations to improve the organisation's anti-corruption resilience, and periodic diagnostic scans to monitor progress. This paper summarises the main findings of the MACPI benchmarking scans which shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the anti-corruption policy setups of different types of public organizations across different European countries. Common problems and working solutions are summarized and good practices are outlined as guidance for other organizations. Special attention is paid to the quantitative results of the periodic monitoring of the Bulgarian Border and Traffic Police between 2015 and 2022. The results of the application of MACPI demonstrate quantitatively the advantages of concrete and focused anti-corruption measures directed at specific activities (e.g., random recruitment of employees through electronic services and staff rotation) over more abstract and general measures such as code of ethics and anti-corruption trainings. The results also show that procedures related to the recruitment of new staff and public procurement are crucial for improving the integrity of public organisations, while measures consisting of development of instructions and general training related to the implementation of existing national anti-corruption legislation tend to have very little impact on the risk of corruption. Proper implementation and strict monitoring (both internal and external) of the application of anti-corruption policies and measures are key to having a tangible impact on reducing the risk of corruption at the level of individual institutions.