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THE PRESIDENT (Translation}.- Thank you. I now call Mr. Cullen from
Canada.
Mr. CULLEN (Observer from Canada} thanked the President. He
welcomed his first opportunity to address the Assembly.
(The speaker continued in English.} First, I congratulate the
rapporteur, Mrs Degn on her excellent report. In Canada, we have a long
tradition, by North American standards at least, of a market economy and
democratic institutions. We have, to an extent, learned to cope with
economic crime and, hopefully, learned how to stabilise and limit its
influence.
What do we mean by economic crime? The types or categories of economic
crime are, unfortunately, endless and range from the bribing of public
officials, money laundering, software piracy, computer crime, drugs, the
smuggling of illegal aliens and so forth. The list goes on.
In my view, it is appropriate for the Council of Europe to focus its
attention initially on money laundering and corruption. The work on
corruption ties in well with OECD initiatives and its recent Convention on
Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business
Transactions. Our Canadian delegation looks forward to participating in
that continuing work through the enlarged debate of the Committee on
Economic Affairs and Development of the Council Europe on OECD activities.
Economic crimes are a threat to the development of new market economies and
democratic principles and, because they are trans-national in nature, they are rightly dealt with
by multilateral organisations, such as the Council of Europe. A huge economic cost is
associated with bribery -a cost that is ultimately borne by all citizens.
Canada has taken a number of steps to tackle economic crime. First, we are a
signatory to the OECD convention on bribery .Secondly, Canada is a founding member of
the Financial Action Task Force, which was established by the Group of 7. That task force
is a very important development in the attack on money laundering. In Canada, we recognise
that we must do a better job of preventing money laundering and are taking steps to tackle
that. If we all prevent or limit money laundering, economic criminals will be hard-pressed to
realise the benefits of their illicit activities. In 1991, Canada ended the tax deductibility of
bribes in international business transactions. I urge other governments to do the same.
In September last year , the Canadian business community adopted an International
Code of Ethics for Canadian Business, which contains among other things a commitment to
the following values: to human rights and social justice; to wealth maximisation for all
stakeholders; to the operation of a free market economy; and, to a business environment that
militates against bribery and corruption. Within the context of human rights, the Canadian
business community adopted the following principles -the need to support and promote the
protection of international human rights within its sphere of influence; and the requirement
not to be complicit in human rights abuses.
In Canada, more can and will be done, but we are moving in the right direction.
Unfortunately, with the growth of mafia-type activities, many eastern Europeans are
witnessing the very worst side of a market-based economy. Wealth oligarchies have been
created very fast and in many cases have been coupled with coercive elements. The results
have often been disastrous. Average citizens feel victimised and unable to participate in the
emerging market economy -they feel left out. For the original sceptics, that provides support
for their argument that the old ways are better .
The real issue is how long those who feel victimised and excluded will wait before
their patience runs out. The goal of a market economy coupled with democratic principles
is to create a more inclusive society, not the other way round. To be sure, a perfect world
is not possible under any system, but we must develop and put in place the governance
models that will achieve the needed results.
In my view, the challenge in eastern Europe is to limit as quickly as possible the
growth of mafia activities so as to allow all citizens the opportunity to improve their
economic prospects. In our role as parliamentarians, I am confident that we can work
together constructively and effectively to make that change.
THE PRESIDENT (Translation).- Thank you, Mr. Cullen. The next speaker is Mr
Eltz.
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Representing
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