US Withdraws from Council of Europe Anti-Corruption Body GRECO

The Trump administration has formally withdrawn the United States from the Group of States Against Corruption, widely known by its French acronym GRECO, a Council of Europe body tasked with monitoring compliance with anti-corruption standards among its member states. The departure makes the US one of only a small handful of nations ever to have exited the organisation, placing it in the company of Russia, which was expelled following its invasion of Ukraine, and Belarus.

What Is GRECO?

Established in 1999, GRECO monitors and evaluates its members' compliance with the Council of Europe's anti-corruption standards, covering areas such as the independence of the judiciary, the transparency of political party financing, the integrity of parliamentarians and judges, and the prevention of corruption among law enforcement. Membership is not limited to European countries — the United States joined in 2000 and has since been subject to periodic evaluations and recommendations.

GRECO operates through a peer-review process in which country delegations evaluate each other's legal and institutional frameworks. Members are expected to implement recommendations within agreed timelines and report back on their progress. Failure to comply can lead to public declarations and reputational pressure but does not carry formal legal penalties.

The US Exit and Its Rationale

The Trump administration notified the Council of Europe of its intention to withdraw, citing what officials described as unnecessary foreign oversight of US domestic governance and legal structures. The decision was framed as part of a broader pullback from multilateral monitoring bodies that the administration has characterised as overstepping their mandates.

GRECO had issued several recommendations to the United States concerning the transparency of lobbying, the financing of political campaigns, and measures to address corruption risks among federal judges. Critics of the withdrawal argue that the exit removes an important external accountability mechanism at a time when domestic oversight institutions in the US are themselves under strain.

International Reactions

The decision drew immediate criticism from European officials and transparency advocates. The Council of Europe's Secretary-General expressed regret at the US withdrawal, noting that GRECO evaluations had produced significant positive reforms in numerous member states. Several EU member states issued statements calling the move a setback for the transatlantic anti-corruption agenda.

Civil society organisations in the United States condemned the decision, arguing that withdrawal from GRECO signals a retreat from accountability at the federal level. They noted that GRECO's recommendations on lobbying transparency and judicial integrity had gained little traction in Washington even when the US was a member, and that formal exit removes even the nominal pressure those recommendations carried.

Broader Implications

The US withdrawal from GRECO is the latest in a series of departures from international monitoring and standards bodies under the Trump administration, following exits from or significant scaling-back of engagement with several UN human rights mechanisms, multilateral trade dispute processes, and climate accountability frameworks. Observers note that the move places the US alongside two of Europe's most internationally isolated governments — Russia and Belarus — in having formally exited the organisation, a comparison that has not gone unnoticed in European capitals.