GGI-Transparency International Civil Society Roundtable: Strengthening Civil Society and Legislative Oversight in the realm of defence

 On 18 October 2013, I had the honour of co-organizing with Transparency International and with the institutional support of the Global Governance Institute a civil society roundtable that focused on the issue of legislative oversight of defence issues (particularly, but not exclusively related to procurement and corruption). The event brought together Members of the European Parliament, TI and GGI experts and remarkable members of the NGO and civil society community. 

The workshop featured also small group discussions of TI's Corruption Index in the defence sector as well as wider discussions on the implications of corruption in the global arms trade.

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PROGRAMME 

Morning Session: Presentation & Discussion of the GI Report & Lecture by Andrew Feinstein

09:30 - 09:40 Welcome and refreshments & Welcome Remarks
- Mark Pyman (Director, TI Defence and Security Programme)
- Joachim Koops (Director, GGI & Professor IES-VUB)
 
09:40 - 10:00 Corruption in the Defence Sector Q&A
 
10:00 - 10:20 Challenges to Parliamentarians Fighting Corruption in Defence: The Experience of South Africa
Andrew Feinstein, Former Member of Congress, South Africa & Author of "The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade
 
10:20 - 10:45 The Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index (GI) and ‘Watchdogs’ including Q&A
 
10:45 - 11:15 Implications of Transparency for Global Security Governance
Joachim Koops, Director GGI & Professor of Political Science, VUB)
 
11:15 - 11:30 Coffee Break
 
Small Group Discussions
11:30 – 12:00 Participants' Group Discussion of Watchdogs findings, tools and actions
 
12:00 - 12:45 Small groups report back and other participants respond – fishbowl format with 5 minute introductions by Mark Pyman (focus on report actions) and Andrew Feinstein (focus on implementing tools)
 
12:45 – 13:15 Lunch
 
13:15 - 13:45 Plenary discussion: Towards a European approach to stronger legislative oversight, transparency and governance - Challenges and Opportunities
Daniel Fiott, Doctoral Researcher, Institute for European Studies
 
13:45 – 14:00 Conclusions, and introduction to next steps in research / potential research workshop and network