NGO submission to the EIB public consultation on its anti-corruption policy

The bulk of NGO recommendations on the EIBs Anti-Corruption Policy are contained in the notes below, but it is also possible to make a few general points. We welcome EIBs commitment in the preamble of the policy to the principle of not tolerating corruption, fraud or other illegal acts in any of its activities or operations. However, we believe that the Banks policy as it stands does not go anything like far enough. The Bank must be much more proactive in combating corruption, acting earlier to pre-empt illegal acts and more aggressively to root them out after they occur. In the spirit of the agreement signed in Singapore in September 2006 with other International Financial Institutions and Regional Development Banks, the EIB should commit to a pro-active fight against fraud and corruption in the financial and economic world, which goes far beyond the limited scope of the loan agreements that the Bank signs.