GRECO Evaluation Report on Corruption Prevention at Local Level in Estonia Makes 12 Recommendations
Summary
GRECO has published its evaluation report on Estonia's corruption prevention and integrity measures at the local level. The report acknowledges Estonia's progress including well-developed anti-corruption frameworks, internal audit services in Tallinn and Tartu, public procurement anti-corruption clauses, and e-training for municipal staff. The report addresses 12 recommendations to Estonian national and municipal authorities covering five themes: anti-corruption policy and risk management, standards of conduct and ethics, conflict of interest prevention, transparency and access to information, and control mechanisms, oversight, and accountability. Estonia volunteered to be the first GRECO member state evaluated under the sixth round, with an on-site visit conducted in April 2025.
What changed
GRECO published its evaluation report on Estonia's corruption prevention framework at the local government level, making 12 recommendations across five themes. The report acknowledges Estonia's strengths including well-developed anti-corruption infrastructure, municipal internal audit services in Tallinn and Tartu, anti-corruption clauses in public procurement contracts, and e-training programs for municipal officials. Recommendations include strengthening supervisory board appointment processes in municipal companies, implementing systematic integrity training, developing practical guidance on conflict of interest restrictions under the Anti-Corruption Act, operationalizing risk-based verification of interest declarations, strengthening citizen participation in decision-making, and introducing whistleblower protection safeguards. For affected parties, the report signals GRECO's focus on municipal-level governance integrity and provides a roadmap for strengthening anti-corruption frameworks in Estonian local government operations.
What to do next
- Monitor GRECO recommendations on anti-corruption policy and risk management
- Review ethics counselling channels and confidentiality safeguards
- Assess conflict of interest declaration verification systems
Archived snapshot
Apr 16, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
GRECO publishes evaluation report on preventing corruption and promoting integrity at local level in Estonia
deutsch español français italiano Council of Europe body makes 12 recommendations to municipal and national authorities Group of states against corruption (GRECO) Estonia 10 April 2026
- Diminuer la taille du texte
- Augmenter la taille du texte
- Imprimer la page
The Council of Europe upholds pluralist democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and sees corruption as a threat to the very foundations of these core values
In a newly published report the Council of Europe’s Group of states against corruption (GRECO) has acknowledged Estonia’s progress in preventing corruption and promoting integrity at local level, while recommending further measures on anti-corruption policy, ethics, transparency and accountability. The evaluation process included an on-site visit in April 2025 during which GRECO’s evaluation team engaged with a wide range of national and local stakeholders in the municipalities of Tallinn and Tartu. Estonia volunteered to be the first GRECO member state to be evaluated under the sixth round.
GRECO commends Estonia for its well-developed anti-corruption and integrity framework, and notes that this strength extends to the municipal level, where the internal audit services of Tallinn and Tartu play a key role. The report highlights several good practices worth sharing across member states, such as Tartu and Tallinn’s public procurement arrangements and anti-corruption clauses in contracts, e-training courses on anti-corruption and ethics for elected officials and municipal staff, and Tallinn’s arrangements for access to, and disclosure of, official information.
At the same time, GRECO identifies scope for progress in a number of areas, and addresses 12 recommendations to the Estonian authorities at both national and municipal level, as appropriate, covering five broad themes.
What specifically has GRECO found regarding anti-corruption measures in Estonia?
On anti-corruption policy and risk management, GRECO recommends strengthening the appointment process for supervisory board members in municipal companies and foundations.
As regards standards of conduct and ethics, recommendations cover systematic integrity training for elected officials and municipal staff, robust confidentiality safeguards for ethics counselling channels, awareness-raising of those channels, and a clear separation between confidential advisory functions and the investigation of integrity breaches.
Concerning conflict of interest prevention, GRECO recommends developing practical guidance on procedural restrictions under the Anti-Corruption Act and on secondary activities, as well as operationalising a risk-based system for verifying declarations of interests, backed by adequate resources, inter-agency coordination and clear follow-up measures for non-compliance.
On transparency, access to information and public participation, it recommends strengthening citizen participation in decision-making and calls for a clear national framework governing lobbying or, in its absence, improved disclosure of contacts with lobbyists and practical guidance for public officials on transparent engagement.
On the subject of control mechanisms, oversight and accountability, GRECO recommends strengthening the capacities of internal audit services, and introducing safeguards to ensure auditor independence under rotation requirements. On whistleblower protection, the national authorities are called upon to review the Whistleblowers Protection Act against Council of Europe standards — notably to extend its scope to breaches of national law — and to strengthen guidance, training, access to confidential advice and effectiveness monitoring.
What happens next?
Estonia has been invited to submit a report on measures taken to implement the recommendations by 30 September 2027.
The Group of states against corruption (GRECO) is a Council of Europe body that aims to improve the capacity of its members to fight corruption by monitoring their compliance with anti-corruption standards. It helps states to identify deficiencies in national anti-corruption policies, prompting the necessary legislative, institutional and practical reforms. It comprises the 46 Council of Europe member states, Kazakhstan and the United States of America.
Read more about the Council of Europe’s work on the rule of law |
Finland: GRECO welcomes progress on integrity reforms in government and police
GRECO 12 february 2025 Strasbourg Training, counselling and enforcement central to advances
The Week Ahead: Key Events and Meetings
resources
- Media Department
- Week Ahead
- Calendar
- Speeches
- New Democratic Pact for Europe
- Council of Europe Summit, May 2023
- Contribution to UN 2030 agenda
- Theme files
- Photo galleries
- Video on demand
for the press
Guide for visiting journalists
European Court of Human Rights RSS feeds
Named provisions
Related changes
Get daily alerts for Council of Europe News
Daily digest delivered to your inbox.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
About this page
Every important government, regulator, and court update from around the world. One place. Real-time. Free. Our mission
Source document text, dates, docket IDs, and authority are extracted directly from CoE.
The summary, classification, recommended actions, deadlines, and penalty information are AI-generated from the original text and may contain errors. Always verify against the source document.
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when Council of Europe News publishes new changes.
Subscribed!
Optional. Filters your digest to exactly the updates that matter to you.