Oversight to Combat Corruption, ANAC in Budapest with the European Network for Public Ethics

Oversight to Combat Corruption, ANAC in Budapest with the European Network for Public Ethics

From today 16 October 2025 to tomorrow 17th the Annual Conference and the Plenary Session of ENPE, with ANAC Presidency

The 2025 European Network for Public Ethics (ENPE) Annual Conference, “From policy to practice: Effective Conflict of Interest Control and Oversight to Combat Corruption”, takes place in Budapest (Ceremonial Hall of the Ministry of Interior), Hungary, on 16 October 2025. 
 
ENPE aims to promote a culture of public integrity and transparency in the public sector, pursue regulatory harmonization among EU Member States in these matters, develop specific expertise in preventive policies and act as a key interlocutor for EU authorities on integrity, transparency and public ethics. ENPE is currently chaired by Giuseppe Busia, President of the Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC), who speaks at the 2025 Annual Conference. The Italian Presidency of ENPE, of which ANAC is a Founding Member, began in October 2024. The Network brings together 19 institutions (15 Members and 4 Observers) from Europe that are active in the public integrity field. 

- Giuseppe Busia, President of ANAC and ENPE, with Giuseppe Scognamiglio, Italian Ambassador to Hungary - 

The 2025 ENPE Annual Conference, hosted by the Hungarian Integrity Authority, focuses on strengthening conflict of interest oversight as a key tool in fighting corruption across Europe. Gathering public ethics authorities, policymakers, practitioners, and civil society, the event explores how EU regulations can be turned into practical strategies and promote greater harmonisation among Member States. The Conference offers a timely platform to share best practices, engage with stakeholders, and advance transparency and accountability in public governance. The ENPE Plenary Session will take place on 17 October.

During the first parte of the conference, Eszter Dargay, Deputy State Secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior, emphasized the centrality of anti-corruption and public integrity to the Ministry's mission, highlighting how accountability in the performance of public duties is essential to ensuring trust in institutions.

The President of the Hungarian Integrity Authority, Ferenc Biró, illustrated the specifics of the Hungarian system for preventing and managing conflicts of interest.

President Busia reiterated the importance of preventing conflicts of interest to ensure citizens' trust in institutions, since the prevalence of private interests over public ones transforms politics into speculation and causes a loss of sight of the common good. Hence, Busia specified, there is the need to use every means, especially the most advanced digital tools, to prevent conflicts and strengthen cooperation between states, given that conflicts of interest today are increasingly transnational in nature.

Professor Slagjana Taseva, Dean of IACA (International Anti-Corruption Academy), emphasized the importance of education, that is training people, because rules and tools alone are not enough.

C K Cheung, Secretary-General of IAACA (International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities), highlighted the Association's commitment to exploring new paths in the fight against corruption, including through joint projects and webinars on innovative topics.

Nejla Saula, Head of Anti-Corruption and Integrity in Government Division of OECD, emphasizing how conflicts of interest undermine the impartiality of public decision-making, calling for strengthening institutions committed to promoting integrity. Above all, she specified, we must move from rules to implementation, because procedures and enforcement are also crucial.

The various strategies for improved data sharing were then discussed. The next panel discussion, “From culture to compliance: Transforming oversight of conflicts of interest,” focused on the critical issues surrounding conflict of interest prevention policies, and in particular the misalignment between rules and implementation, a gap that can make the proposed measures ineffective.