Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Greece most corrupt country in the EU, watchdog says

  • Greek perception is worsening year by year (Photo: jay bergsen)

Greece is perceived as EU's most corrupt state, falling behind usual suspects Bulgaria and Romania and scoring the same as China, an annual corruption index published by Transparency International shows.

Almost a year after Prime Minister George Papandreou had declared war on corruption and maladministration, the country's has slipped even further down the ranking in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perception Index.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Out of 178 countries surveyed, Greece ranked 78, together with a handful of other states: China, Colombia, Lesotho, Peru, Serbia and Thailand.

The EU's newest member states Romania and Bulgaria, who last year shared the same position with Greece, have now distanced themselves to places 69 and 73, respectively.

The index is composed of 13 different expert and business surveys conducted between January 2009 and September 2010.

Just last week, senior Greek officials blamed rampant corruption in the country's chaotic healthcare system for costing several billion euros a year.

"Pharmaceutical expenditure in Greece has doubled over the last four years and is now €9 billion per year, twice that of Belgium which is about the same size," said Stephanos Komninos, head of the commerce department of the development ministry, AFP reports.

"A very large part of the expenditure is just black money which circulates among those who decide prescriptions for medications," he explained.

Mr Komninos said corruption was not limited to the healthcare sector and was widespread in all public contracting due to a lack of transparency and failures by administrators.

In April, Greece was forced to cut public spending and open up public accounts to outside auditors as part of a €110 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund and the EU.

Greece is by no means alone in facing the problem. The Transparency survey shows that nearly three quarters of the 178 countries score below five, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have low levels of corruption).

Along with Greece, perception of the issue in Italy, Hungary and the Czech Republic has also worsened considerably compared to last year.

The EU also has the winner of the index, Denmark, where good governance and transparency have kept the country for several years in a row at the highest mark - 9.3. The pole position is shared with New Zealand and Singapore.

At the bottom of the index are conflict-ridden countries such as Afghanistan and Myanmar, with Somalia coming in last with a score of 1.1.

Russia has also slid back towards the end of the ranking, scoring a mere 2.2, despite anti-corruption campaigns announced by the country's President Dmitry Medvedev.

Neigbouring Ukraine, meanwhile, has improved its score to 2.4, outranking Russia by 20 positions.

US and EU breaking taboos to restrain Israel

The US abstained and all EU states on the UN Security Council backed a call for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, as Europe prepares to also blacklist extremist Israeli settlers.

EU warns Russia over Moscow terror attacks

Europe has warned Russia not to use the weekend's terror attacks in Moscow as a pretext to escalate its war in Ukraine and crackdown on internal dissent.

EU summit risks failing Gaza once again, Ireland warns

Austrians and Czechs might block an EU statement calling for an Israeli ceasefire, Ireland warned, as leaders met in Brussels amid starvation in Gaza. Israel's conduct of the war meant it had "squandered the support they had", Leo Varadkar said.

Interview

Kallas: Russia's defeat crucial to avoid Third World War

The West must help Ukraine defeat Russia to avoid a wider conflict, Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas has said, advocating more EU arms for Kyiv and heavier investment in Europe's defence industry.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. "Swiftly dial back" interest rates, ECB told
  2. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  3. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  4. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  5. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  6. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating
  7. Syrian mayor in Germany speaks out against AfD
  8. Asian workers pay price for EU ship recycling

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us