Solid commitment to transparency, legibility of data and monitoring of those sectors most at risk of corruption. In the course of its 3rd Integrity Day, the foreign ministry outlined the path that the efforts of Italian foreign diplomats and officials would take, and announced the modernisation of its counter-corruption operations. The event was hosted at the ministry’s Rome headquarters and featured speeches by, among others, Minister Emma Bonino, Substitute State Prosecutor Paolo Ielo, President of Transparency International Italia Maria Teresa Brassiolo and chief of the foreign ministry’s general secretariat Luigi Vignali.
Prepared for transparency and legibility operation
The foreign ministry is prepared for an operation of total “transparency and legibility” regarding the cost of staff and services: “it is simpler to carry out an operation of this sort, making everything more legible”, and thereby also informing the parliament, according to Minister Emma Bonino. She underscored the ministry’s commitment to providing detailed data on staff and services costs, while also pointing out that the MFA had been “the first ministry” to present its 2012-2014 3-year programme on transparency and integrity. “This is not a defensive operation but one merely of transparency”, Bonino explained, recalling how, in this manner, “it will be possible to illustrate that our diplomats cost one-third what those of other European countries do”.
Modernising within limitations of available resources, says Bonino
The minister then outlined the upcoming challenges that the ministry will inevitably be facing with the spending review. Nevertheless, she said that the ministry was pursuing “a phase of modernisation within the limitations of available resources, and seeking to downscale its presence abroad”, with a plan to “streamline” its diplomatic presence in Europe in order to boost it in areas where the need was greater. “I would keep all the missions open and, indeed, I’d even open more, but as a result of obvious budgetary constraints we cannot keep them all going”, the minister specified.
Citizen services and visa issuance areas most at risk, says Vignali
Going on to the theme of corruption, the minister said that “the rules are a code of correct behaviour, but individual responsibility is also needed. This essential point makes the difference in fighting corruption”. Luigi Vignali spoke on how the foreign ministry had recently stepped up the internal monitoring of its most at-risk activities: visa issuance and the processing of citizen services”, areas with regard to which the ministry had launched “advanced efforts at training, with cross-checks, that have led to some elements of success”.
