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In its work on public administration reform over the years, Sigma has focused increasingly on the need to build integrity systems that support good governance and resist corruption. More recently, Sigma identified a fundamental need to strengthen ethical conduct in the public service and in government by addressing the issue of capacity. To meet this need and to strengthen both systemic capacity and personal capacity, Sigma has focused on the issues of conflict of interest and professional ethics of public servants.
Conflict of Interest
Sigma has prepared a policy paper on how selected EU Member States regulate conflict of interest and ethics issues for public officials. The paper provides information on how six “old” EU Member States – France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK – and three “new” EU Members – Hungary, Latvia and Poland - have regulated conflict of interest. Sigma Paper no. 36, Conflict of Interest Policies and Practices in Nine EU Member States: A Comparative Review
Public Sector Ethics Resource (PSER)
In 2004 Sigma carried out a project in Bulgaria for the development of a Public Sector Ethics Resource (PSER), a comprehensive set of multimedia resource materials for building public service capacity to strengthen ethics and integrity and to identify and prevent corrupt practices. The Bulgarian PSER served as a model for subsequent PSERs developed in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In addition to video materials, a range of country-specific materials – relevant legislation, policy and case studies – were included in each version of the PSER. In developing the PSER, Sigma experts worked in partnership with relevant civil service agencies, anti-corruption organisations, and institutes of public administration. After pilot testing and evaluation, these materials served as support for the development of a national strategy for the delivery of training to large numbers of public officials and for the transmission of anti-corruption information to the general public.
Anti-Corruption Policy
In Romania, in May 2007 Sigma co-organised with the National Agency for Civil Servants (NACS) a seminar on “Public Integrity and Anti-Corruption in the Public Service”, exposing policy-makers to the experiences of EU Member States and raising the debate on regulations required in this area. In Turkey, Sigma presented a synthesis of its policy paper on conflict-of-interest practices in EU Member States to an anti-corruption conference organised in December 2007 by TEPAV (Economic Policy Research Institute).
Assessment of Public Integrity Systems
Since 2004, at the request of the European Commission, Sigma has evaluated public integrity systems in the framework of its annual assessment process. Sigma’s assessment reports can be consulted on the website.
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