 | Managing Conflict of Interest in the Public Service Conflicts of interest have become a key issue in public debate world-wide. New forms of conflict between individual private interests of public officials and their public duties arise as the public sector has become increasingly commercialised and works more closely with the business and non-profit sectors. Governments need to ensure that public officials perform their duties in a fair and unbiased way. The pressure comes from a society and a business community that are increasingly well-informed, and specifically from a general demand for unbiased and transparent public decision-making. The message is clear: official decisions should not be improperly affected by self-interest, the integrity of markets and fair business competition should be supported, and corrupt practices excluded. The "OECD Guidelines for Managing Conflict of Interest in the Public Service" provide the first international benchmark in this field. They help governments review and modernise their conflict-of-interest policies in the public sector. The report highlights trends, approaches and models across OECD countries in a comparative overview that also presents examples of innovative and recent solutions. Selected country case studies give more details on the implementation of policies in national contexts and on key elements of legal and institutional frameworks. The countries covered are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal and the United States. |
