1. Reconstruction of the State 2013 – 2017
Vit Simral, Frank Bold Czech Republic
Bucharest, 8 September 2017

2. Czech Republic – Corruption is a Problem
CPI 2016: POL 62; LIT 59; CZE 55; SVK 51; CRO 49; ROM 48
“How much of the campaign is, in your conservative estimate, financed independently and not reported to the party?”

3. How much more EU subsidies and public contracts go to private companies with politicians on company boards?
gov_party    others        gov_multiplier        unit EU_count       0.13        success per company EU_amount                millions of grant money per company PC_count            1.23    success per company PC_amount           0.95    millions of contracts value per company incumbents     others    incumb_multiplier     unit
EU_count                                 success per company EU_amount                                 millions per company PC_count                                 success per company PC_amount                              millions per company

5. Reconstruction of the State
joint national programme of Czech anti-corruption organizations, politicians, independent experts, business partners, and active citizens,
Campaign pledges of candidates (MPs and Senators) to support 9 laws and their specific provisions
In total 165 current MPs and 28 Senators pledged to support at least 1 of the 9 laws

6. Laws 1 to 4
Transparent financing of political parties (passed, all amendments incl., in force 1 January 2017)
Declarations of assets on taking up an office (passed)
Contracts on the internet (passed, in force on 1 July 2017)
Abolition of anonymous shares (passed even before the pledges)

7. Laws 5 to 9 Appointments to state companies’ boards (not passed)
Independent public administration (civil service act) (passed due to EU pressure, but a failure for us)
No political interference in investigations (not passed)
Transparent legislative process (passed, against MPs’ ‘riders’, very useful in lobbying)
Extension of the powers of the Supreme Audit Office (stuck in the Senate, constitutional law)

8. The Law since January 2017
Independent supervisory body (chair + 4 members)
Transparent accounts on campaign spending + donations
New auditors every 5 years
Fines by the supervisory body up to CZK 200k, ~ € 7,400
Signed all campaign items
Limits on spending (Chamber: CZK 90mil ~ € 3,3mil)
Registered 3rd persons campaigning (5% spending cap)

9. Practice of REST lobbying
A mixture of PR (media) pressure and expert lobbying
Pledges to civic ambassadors (approx. 150 for 200MPs)
Working together with business, academia, embassies
In PR both carrot (promoting MPs) and stick
In expert advisory, evidence from other countries
Crucial face-to-face lobbying and drafting texts (MPs are not generally corrupt, just don’t have time to read all bills)
Avoid perception of partisanship, but focus on parties with the most MPs/Senators

17. My take on it
Let’s crowdfund! (involve the median voter) Focus on details in single countries, do not over-rely on international models and foreign practices However, GRECO peer pressure helped a lot Can inter-disciplinarity help?

18. Thank you for your attention!