The Road to Good Governance Aruba Symposium 12-14 September 2017 Saxion University of Applied Sciences Willeke Slingerland

Network corruption a perspective from the Netherlands, the EU and beyond

As a teenager in the European Youth Parliament 1997 Growing up convinced that government is there to represent our common interests Trust and belief in international law Trust and belief that the worst is behind us and the best is yet to come

National Integrity System: institutions, laws and practice

Presenting Integrity Study @ Press Centre House of Parliament 2012 Formal Integrity System NL on paper ok, but in practice weak spots Interviewed 42 key figures and an honest picture of NL arose Decisive moment! This process taught me more than the study of corruption itself.

Corruption costs in the EU As EU Correspondent I exchanged views, experiences, politics, laws and cases for a period of 5 years. Corruption costs the EU 120 billion a year. This is only the amount calculated in financial terms

Corruption is not a victimless crime

Corruption is not a victimless crime

Network corruption 2015: large corruption network among highly ranked officials of FIFA exposed by the US’ Department of Justice 2011/2012:the conflict of interests and bribery between press, police and politicians in the phone-hacking scandal (United Kingdom) 2012: the large-scale corruption in the city of Roermond, the Netherlands.

Network Corruption

Real-life cases of network corruption Variations in terms of societal impact, size of bribes and kickbacks and number of individuals involved but same mechanism Individuals sentenced for or cleared over bribery claims, the overall impression remains that the issue at stake is more complex, involving dense relationships in which bribery and other forms of abuse occurred; the problem surrounding social networks.

Networks and norm development The individuals were: politicians, journalists, police officers, business men, lawyers and notaries public. These networks did not serve the general interest. To the contrary, the norm was to favor the network members (the narrower selves) at the expense of the general interest. These informal networks undermine democracy and the rule of law. Here social capital becomes corruption.

Two questions come to mind How to get a better understanding of corruption in networks? What to do against network corruption?

From network corruption to integrity networks From homogenous closed inward-looking networks to heterogeneous open networks which embrace those who ask questions and think differently.

Window of opportunity If we as a community have allowed this norm to emerge and corruption to grow, we also have the power to start a movement in the other direction. This is not so much about choosing the current ruling political party or its opponent. It’s about organizing your community in such a way that it becomes a countervailing power.

Decisive steps to take To stop for a moment and think how you contribute to good governance (micro, meso and macro) How do you, your family and Aruba gain from taking responsibility With whom can you engage in civil society Organizing sustainable good governance (Inform, educate, discuss, organize and address) Community building in order to ensure a broad base of support for progressive change

It takes a community to realize Good Governance

Thank you for your attention! THE END Remarks or questions? Thank you for your attention!