Transparency International: Corruption in EU worsening, Romania third from the bottom

Corruption in Western Europe and the entire European Union is worsening, according to the 2023 Transparency International report on the fight against corruption. Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria are ranked as the most corrupt in Europe in the same report.

The latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) conducted by Transparency International analyzed 180 countries, ranking them on a scale from zero, meaning highly corrupt, to 100, meaning least corrupt. Global trends are worrying, as over two-thirds of countries score below 50 out of 100, and both authoritarian and democratic leaders are undermining justice.

The top-performing countries in Western Europe and the EU were Denmark (90), Finland (87), and Norway (84), while the lowest-ranked were Hungary (42), Romania (46), and Bulgaria (45).

The CPI regional average score of 65 out of 100 has dropped for the first time in almost a decade in Western Europe and the European Union. Out of the 31 countries, only six have significantly improved their score since 2012: the Czech Republic (57), Estonia (76), Greece (49), Latvia (60), Italy (56), and Ireland (77).

Despite their position, several top-ranked democracies such as Sweden (82), the Netherlands (79), Iceland (72), and the United Kingdom (71) registered their lowest scores since measurements began in 2012. Other countries, like Denmark, Germany, and Sweden, have seen cases involving money laundering through major banks which lowered the public's perception of these states' fight against corruption. Poland, which still ranks above Romania, has seen a seven-point decline over the last decade as a result of the systematic efforts by the previous ruling Law and Order (PiS) party to monopolize power by undermining the judicial system.

According to Transparency International, rule of law in Europe is being undermined by weak accountability and political corruption, both of which grant too much power to narrow interest groups. The result is that citizens are losing trust in institutions.

"The drop in the CPI regional score in Western Europe and the EU demonstrates that European governments need to take the fight against corruption and the respect for the rule of law more seriously," said Flora Cresswell, regional coordinator for Western Europe at Transparency International, cited by Euronews.com.

Transparency International also found that access to information on the ownership of various companies has been significantly restricted for civil society and journalists across the European Union.