Integrity of Civil Servants for EU-accession countries

In the period of 2012 to 2015, The Hague Academy was responsible for the design, delivery and monitoring and evaluation of 4 eight-day training courses on ‘Integrity of civil servants’. These training courses were designed for senior civil servants national Ministries or subnational government in the following countries: Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey.

This training programme took place in the Netherlands and aimed to increase understanding of the international and EU framework for integrity policy and the national context of the participants´countries.

The course provided insight in the roles and responsibilities of the different actors in promoting integrity of civil servants. The seven building blocks of integrity were discussed, as well as coherence of integrity policies with the overall financial and HR-policy. Examples from The Netherlands were discussed and European organisations such as OLAF and GRECO presented their work in the field of anti-corruption. In addition, knowledge and skills to develop a sustainable policy for the promotion of integrity of civil servants at different government levels was enhanced. Special attention was paid to obstacles and dilemma´s in the implementation process and how to overcome them.

On completion of the training, participants:

• Had insight in the importance of integrity for well-functioning, transparent government institutions and for economic growth;
• Know how the Dutch policy for integrity of civil servants is shaped and organised;
• Were able to use the acquired knowledge and best practices as a source of inspiration for dealing with challenges related to integrity policies in their own countries;
• Were trained in the practical application of specific subjects and in a number of needed practical skills;
• Had the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences;
• Had the opportunity to create new professional cross-border networking relations.

This course is part of a larger programme (Matra Patrol) and consisted of eight courses in the field of Rule of Law, financed by the Netherlands´government. The aim of the Rule of Law-programme was to stimulate and support European integration by capacity building of government organisations in eight target countries.

Participants of 2015 are visiting the European Commission and its Anti-Fraud office (OLAF) in Brussels.