International cooperation

International anti-corruption cooperation takes place on many forums.

Finland is involved in the activities of many European and global anti-corruption bodies:

Many of these bodies have evaluated Finland's actions and issued recommendations on how Finland could enhance its anti-corruption efforts.

OECD combats international bribery

Finland is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD, which is one of the leading anti-corruption organisations in the world. One of its key missions is to fight bribery in international business.

Country monitoring is the OECD's most important method for following and promoting its Member countries' efforts to combat bribery of foreign officials. Finland ratified the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in 1999.

Council of Europe and its anticorruption body GRECO

The anti-corruption work of the Council of Europe consists of three inter-related elements.

This means that the Council

  • sets European anti-corruption norms and standards through conventions
  • monitors implementation of the conventions in the Member States
  • provides technical assistance, where necessary, and collaborates with states and institutions.

The Council of Europe has a designated anti-corruption body, GRECO (Group of States against Corruption). GRECO monitors compliance with the Council of Europe's criminal and civil law conventions. GRECO relies on a process based on mutual evaluation and peer pressure, in which the expertise of practitioners and state representatives are brought together.

Finland became a member of GRECO in 1999. After that, Finland has been evaluated by the Group several times under various themes.

UN and Convention against Corruption

The United Nations has drawn up an anti-corruption convention (UNCAC, United Nations Convention against Corruption). 

The purpose of the Convention is to promote and strengthen measures to combat corruption and enhance international cooperation in the fight against corruption. Furthermore, the Convention aims to promote integrity, accountability and proper management of public affairs and public property. 

Finland ratified the Convention in 2006.

Reducing corruption and bribery is also one of the targets under the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which were adopted in 2015 by Finland among other countries. This means that Finland is expected to adopt measures to reduce corruption in all its forms by 2030.

Many EU bodies fight corruption

The European Union adopted an internal security strategy in 2010. The EU Internal Security Strategy aims to improve the protection of citizens and intensify efforts to combat organised crime and terrorism. The strategy focuses on the fight against cross-border crime, including corruption. 

The European Commission has been entrusted with the political mandate to monitor anti-corruption measures and develop a comprehensive anti-corruption strategy for the EU in collaboration with GRECO. 

The European Anti-Fraud Office OLAF is an EU agency that investigates corruption and fraud against the EU budget. OLAF oversees the implementation of the Commission's Anti-Fraud Strategy.

The European Union's Judicial Cooperation Unit Eurojust promotes cooperation between the competent authorities of the Member States especially in combating serious cross-border crime. Corruption is one of its priority areas. Eurojust is composed of 28 National Members, one from each EU Member State. The National Members are responsible for coordinating the activities of the national authorities at the different stages of investigations and prosecutions. 

Europol also has a key role in the European security system. Europol is the European Union’s law enforcement agency, the main goal of which is to help achieve a safer Europe and to assist law enforcement authorities in EU Member States. It assists the law enforcement authorities in EU Member States particularly in their fight against serious international crime and terrorism. 

In addition, the EU Directive on disclosure of non-financial and diversity information is of significance for the fight against and prevention of corruption. The implementation of the Directive in Finland led to amendment of the Accounting Act in December 2016. The current legislation obligates large companies to report on their policies concerning the environment, their employees, social issues, human rights, and prevention of corruption and bribery.

IACA provides anti-corruption training

The International Anti-Corruption Academy IACA is an international organisation that was established on the initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Austria, and the European Anti-Fraud Office OLAF in 2010.   

The IACA offers anti-corruption training and seminars, and it is based in Austria.

Finland joined the IACA in 2014.

EPAC/EACN develops methods for combating corruption

The EPAC (European Partners against Corruption) is a network bringing together anti-corruption authorities and police oversight bodies from the Council of Europe Member Countries. The EPAC has merged together with the EACN, the European contact-point network against corruption.

The EPAC/EACN is an independent forum for 60 member state authorities for sharing experiences and developing anti-corruption methods. The National Police Board is the Finnish member of the EPAC/EACN.

OSCE supports building of accountable institutions

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe OSCE is an international organisation addressing politico-military, economic, environmental, and human rights-related security questions. 

The OSCE assists the participating States in anti-corruption activities and in the building of democratic, accountable institutions.

The OSCE has 57 participating States from Europe, North America and Central Asia. In addition, the organisation has Partners for Cooperation in the Mediterranean region and Asia.

International cooperation – other pages