EC report: Despite recent high level cases, Romania still has to curb petty and political corruption, create codes of conduct

A recent anti – corruption report issued by the European Commission shows that petty and political corruption continue to be significant problems for Romania, despite the recent positive results in the fight against corruption, and calls for more measures to fight corruption. The report cites the prosecution in high level political corruption cases, as well as the political will to address corruption and promote high standards of integrity, but says efforts in this area have been inconsistent. The EC suggests that Romania needs to make sure all necessary guarantees are in place to safeguard the independence and to continue non-partisan investigations into high-level corruption cases, including with regard to elected and appointed officials. More than three quarters of European citizens, and a staggering 93 percent of Romanians, agree that corruption is widespread in their home country. A quarter of Romanians have been asked or expected to pay a bribe in the past year, compared to the EU average of 4 percent, which places Romania second the EU. The Commission calls for comprehensive codes of conduct for elected officials and sanctions for corrupt practices, as well as for strengthening the prevention and control mechanisms in public procurement and public contracts, including in state-owned and state-controlled companies. Romania still needs to prevent and detect conflicts of interest among public officials, and make sure allocation of public funding is correct. The country also needs to reduce corruption in healthcare, the report shows. The full report can be read here (in pdf, in English), and a country fact sheet is available here. editor@romania-insider.com