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Presented by Mr. Boyko Todorov
1. Establishing good governance mechanisms has been
the key challenge of the institution building efforts of transition
countries in Central and Eastern Europe for the past ten years. The
difficulties stem from the enormous task of rapid transition from
closed societies with total state control over the economy to open
political democracies and market economies.
2. The experience of Coalition 2000 , a public-private
partnership for combating corruption in Bulgaria, suggests that a
combination of public-private cooperation in setting an
anti-corruption agenda for society and a system for monitoring the
level of corruption of public administration are prerequisites both
for designing the long term assistance strategy and for evaluating
its impact. The experience of the Coalition has also highlighted
the key role to be played by civil society organizations in
promoting efficient and transparent public services. NGOs emerge to
promote a certain public interest or provide a certain public
service, which cannot be provided efficiently or at all by markets
or by the state. Thus civil society institutions are a mediator
between the individual and the state. In this sense, NGOs bear a
certain responsibility for the quality of governance provided by
the public administration, as well as for the quality of their own
public services.
3. Furthermore, as corruption is the negation of the
rule of law and an impediment to efficient law enforcement and
effective functioning of public institutions, concerned NGOs need
to find a common platform with the institutions of the state to
work to prevent it. Reducing corruption requires not only the
relevant institution-building measures but also creating the social
preconditions for establishing the rule of law.
4. The desired result of such measures, however,
should be not just public policy reform for better governance but
also a fundamental institutional change in society, politics and
the economy. Traditional approaches are, therefore, inadequate in
this context. A society in transition needs unconventional
mechanisms to reform itself - after all, it is old convention that
has to be transformed. In a context of profound transformation of
institutions and attitudes, it is necessary to find mechanisms that
will help root out vested interests and ensure public support. In
Bulgaria, building "unusual" alliances turned out to be one of
them, probably the most successful one.
5. The public-private partnership process is based
on the notion that since corruption occurs at the interface of the
public and the private domains only a coalition of institutions of
the public and private sectors could effectively tackle it.
Awareness building efforts not backed by anti-corruption policies
and regulatory reform only feed the vicious circle of cynicism
among the public. On the other hand, political commitment will not
translate into efficient and transparent public governance
mechanisms unless public support is ensured.
6. The logic of public-private cooperation is
particularly applicable in the process of structural reform of the
economy. In the absence of sufficiently clear, detailed,
transparent rules and the necessary civic control, the
privatization process is particularly vulnerable to corruption and
public officials are able to achieve personal gain to the detriment
of the public interest. Also, the lack of control gives free rein
to the various forms of illegal activities making up the shadow
economy.
7. In general, privatization is fraught with bad
governance and corruption risks because state property
transformation and market economy development are taking place
under the inherited government-dominated models of economic
regulation. Therefore, a cooperation between the public sector and
government could work towards shedding more light on regulations
and procedures would make more transparent the conditions under
which the state is selling its property, and help clarify both the
intentions and commitments of the buyers. Furthermore, it is
necessary to involve civil society structures in the process of
elaborating business interaction rules and minimizing the
discretionary power of the administration.
8. Liberalization, on the other hand, generally
promotes good governance. Consistent economic reforms, which
promote free and fair competition and private enterprise, also
limit corruption in the private sector.
9. A number of studies have provided evidence that
there is a direct link between the level of government intervention
in the economy and corruption in society. A consistent economic
policy aimed at liberalization and deregulation of private
enterprise, macro-economic stabilization and privatization of
state-owned property would greatly limit the opportunities for
corruption. Thus, as a result of privatization, private owners are
forming political pressure groups aimed at restricting government
intervention in business and reducing the cost of business
transactions.
10. Thеre are three components of the structure of
the public-private cooperation approach: a) defining the
objectives: building a consensus around a national anti-corruption
action agenda; b) promoting public awareness through dissemination
and advocacy; c) implementing a regular corruption monitoring
system (the basic function of process monitoring is to assess the
effectiveness of policy change efforts and to serve as a "watchdog"
tool).
11. Bad governance pressures could also appear on a
cross border basis. A succession of regional conflicts in the past
nearly ten years in Southeast Europe have brought these countries
to the pressing necessity to rethink their strategies for
development and relations with neighboring countries.
12. On the basis of the history of reforms in the
region, it could be summarized that reform efforts will not succeed
unless both governments and NGOs participate actively in the design
and implementation of a common reform agenda. This is especially
valid in areas such as the provision of public services and
citizens rights. Corruption, therefore, should be a priority area
where regional public-private cooperation needs to be established.
Such partnerships are rare in any field in SEE while their
fostering is a key to the success and sustainability of reforms.
Thus, joining public institutions and civil society organizations
in a common effort in designing policy and monitoring democratic
developments will be the projects main contribution to the
stabilization and democratization of the region of SEE.
13. To this end, the Center for the Study of
Democracy and the International Development Law Institute (IDLI),
an inter-governmental organization based in Rome, launched the
Southeast European Legal Development Initiative (SELDI) (www.seldi.net). The
overall goal of SELDI is to contribute to the building of the rule
of law and democratic institutions in the countries of SEE. The
major methodological pillar of SELDIs implementation activities is
the institutionalization of regional public-private cooperation in
anti-corruption, judicial reform and the legal aspects of
international trade. It will be realized through an open process
ensuring the input of all stakeholders in the region.
14. International assistance efforts should
emphasize and seek to promote public-private cooperation in
introducing good governance standards to transition countries.
Often, these efforts focus exclusively on administrative reform.
The design of anti-corruption measures by the international
community in transition countries should further take into account
that corruption is bred and good governance is sustained by wider
societal mechanisms than simply the level of capacity of public
administration.
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