Tuesday

3rd Oct 2023

Pandemic exposed corruption in some EU health systems

  • Six percent of EU citizens paid an outright bribe to receive health care, with the numbers far worse in some EU member states. Bribery rates in health care are highest in Romania and Bulgaria (Photo: Images_of_Money)

Three-in-10 people in the European Union pay a bribe or use a personal connection to access a public service, a Transparency International report says.

According to the Global Corruption Barometer report for the EU, two-thirds of EU citizens surveyed consider corruption to be a considerable problem for their public institutions and more than half think their governments are controlled by private interests and that institutions have not been transparent during the ongoing health crisis.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

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

... or subscribe as a group

While over 80 percent of citizens in Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Italy, Spain consider their governments to be plagued by corruption, less than 20 percent of people living in Denmark and Finland thought corruption in government was a big problem in their country.

Healthcare

The report looks at national healthcare systems in EU member countries as hotspots for corruption.

The findings point out to the complicated situation medical systems are in, where citizens urgently require medical assistance and need to deal with the damaging impact corruption has.

Some six percent of EU citizens paid an outright bribe to receive health care, with the numbers far worse in some EU member states. Bribery rates in health care are highest in Romania and Bulgaria with one-in-five people resorting to kickbacks for much-needed treatment.

"During a health crisis, using personal connections to access public services can be as damaging as paying bribes. Lives can be lost when connected people get a Covid-19 vaccine or medical treatment before those with more urgent needs", said Delia Ferreira Rubio, the chair of Transparency International.

If money opens doors in the Romanian and Bulgaria healthcare system, personal connections work best in Portugal, Hungary and the Czech Republic - where half of responds relied on them to get accesses and care.

"During this period we saw what corruption in the medical system, the distrust in the medical staff and authorities can do. This is obvious if we look at the percentages of vaccinated people in countries where the population has very little confidence in the authorities", Armand Gosu, University of Bucharest professor and Eastern Europe expert, told EUobserver

Democracy

The survey also looked at how corruption chips away at democratic fundamentals in some EU member states. "In France, Poland and Spain, 60 percent of respondents or more said their governments acted in a non-transparent manner", Transparency International points out.

"There are enough details to show that leaders from various countries used restrictions imposed for health reasons to hide details about contracts, to use the business opportunity imposed by the pandemic", Armand Gosu told EUobserver.

The report particularly singles out Poland and Hungary as countries that use the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to weekend democratic institutions.

Earlier this spring, the EU-focused human rights watchdog organisation, Civil Liberties Union for Europe, also made a similar observation saying that Hungary, Poland and Slovenia are the member states most prone to take advantage of Covid-19 responses in order to thwart democracy and weaken the rule of law.

They used Covid-19 regulations to cloak abuses, hinder oversight limit freedom of information and assembly as well as well as fast-track bills through parliament.

The report warns that corruption threatens all activities.

"These results should be a wake-up call both for national governments and the EU institutions. Corruption is undermining public trust and policymakers need to listen to the concerns of the public," Michiel van Hulten, director of Transparency International EU, said.

There is a strong feeling across a third of the citizens from the 27-country bloc that corruption has got worse over the previous 12 months.

While MPs in national parlilaments are regarded as the most corrupt, business executives, bankers and national government officials, including presidents' and prime minister's offices, come a close second.

The report warns that the findings are particularly worrying in the current context as member states are preparing to roll-out billions of euros for post-pandemic recovery. European Commission is approving national plans for the spending of around €800bn by member states from now until 2026.

Author bio

Cristian Gherasim is a freelance journalist contributing to EUobserver, Euronews, EU Reporter, Katoikos, Von Mises Institute, and bne IntelliNews, with a particular focus on European and regional affairs.

EU parliament snubs anti-corruption researchers

Transparency International carried out three separate studies on integrity, of the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the Council (representing member states). The European Parliament refused to cooperate.

EU seeks more health powers after dubious Covid-19 response

After the lack of coordination evidenced during the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Commission put forward a set of proposals to strengthen the preparedness of members states in cross-border health threats.

Romania selling on its jabs, despite low vaccination rates

Europe's least-vaccinated countries are in no short supply of Covid-19 jabs - and yet Romania and Bulgaria are both looking for opportunities to sell or donate their excess vaccines which they are not able to administer to their own population.

Opinion

Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling

Vasco Alves Cordeiro, president of the European Committee of the Regions, is advocating a revamp of the EU's regional policy so that it better supports all regions in addressing major challenges such as the green and digital transitions.

Opinion

How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?

The EU Commission's new magic formula for avoiding scrutiny is simple. You declare the documents in question to be "short-lived correspondence for a preliminary exchange of views" and thus exempt them from being logged in the official inventory.

Latest News

  1. EU demands 'full clarity' from Warsaw on visa-scandal
  2. EU reveals 10 'critical tech' in bid to de-risk from China
  3. EU Commission at a loss over latest snub from Tunisia
  4. Northern Europe — the new Nato/Russia frontline
  5. The EU-Kenya free trade deal shows a waning 'Brussels effect'
  6. Hoekstra pledges to phase-out fossil fuel subsidies
  7. 10 years on from the Lampedusa shipwreck — what's changed?
  8. EU ministers go to Kyiv to downplay fears on US, Slovak aid

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  2. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  2. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  3. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  4. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us