Friday

22nd Sep 2023

Survey: Croatia and Slovenia most corrupt in EU

  • Croatia is one of the most corrupt countries on the continent, according to a new survey (Photo: JasonParis)

Croatia, about to enter the EU, is one of the most corrupt countries in Europe according to a new survey. But Slovenia - an EU and eurozone member - is even worse.

The findings come in an annual report on corporate graft published on Tuesday (7 May) by the US-based financial services company, Ernst & Young.

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

It interviewed 3,459 company board members in 36 countries worldwide, including 22 EU member states.

It asked whether businesses offer bribes to win or retain contracts or if they deliberately misstate their financial performance.

Ninety percent of people in Croatia, which is to join the EU on 1 July, said "bribery/corrupt practices happen widely in business in this country."

The figure was 96 percent in Slovenia - which joined the EU in 2004 and which adopted the euro in 2007 - higher even than Kenya, on 94 percent.

Greece and Slovakia came next on 84 percent, followed by the Czech republic (73%), Portugal (72%), Hungary (70%), Spain (65%), Romania (61%) and Italy (60%).

The EU's three largest economies scored much better - France was on 27 percent, Germany 30 percent and the UK 37 percent.

Nordic countries Finland and Sweden came out as the least corrupt on 12 percent each.

Ernst & Young's top man on fraud investigations, David L. Stulb, linked the results to the financial crisis. He said in a foreword to the paper: "Our survey shows that to find growth and improved performance in this environment, an alarming number appear to be comfortable with … unethical conduct."

The report comes amid worries that Croatia will backslide on reform after it joins the Union.

A European Commission paper in March red-flagged the issue, urging Zagreb to crack down on organised crime and to adopt new measures to safeguard public tenders, to stop abuses in state-owned firms and to protect whistleblowers.

Meanwhile, the suspicion that Slovenia's ailing banks might be misstating their financial performance will not help Ljubljana to reassure markets that it does not need a bailout.

The Ernst & Young report also comes amid a new EU attempt to clean up one aspect of the shadow economy - tax evasion.

Speaking with Finnish PM Jyrki Katainen in Helsinki on Monday, EU Council chief Herman Van Rompuy noted that EU leaders at a summit on 22 May will "step up the fight against tax evasion and tax fraud."

The EU tax commissioner, Algirdas Semeta, the same day told MEPs in Brussels he wants to tap "the huge pot of uncollected taxes which escape the public purse through fraud or evasion."

He added: "fraudsters and evaders have been able to use our single market as a playground for their activities."

Semeta is trying to get EU states to agree to automatic exchange of information on foreigners' bank accounts and to farm out the rules to nearby tax havens, such as Switzerland.

Austria and Luxembourg had opposed the move for years, but they recently changed their mind following German pressure.

Opinion

Orbán's 'revenge law' is an Orwellian crackdown on education

On Tuesday, the Hungarian parliament passed a troubling piece of legislation known by its critics as the 'revenge law', which aims to punish and intimidate teachers who dare to defy Viktor Orbán's regime. This law is a brutally oppressive tool.

Latest News

  1. Europe's energy strategy: A tale of competing priorities
  2. Why Greek state workers are protesting new labour law
  3. Gloves off, as Polish ruling party fights for power
  4. Here's the headline of every op-ed imploring something to stop
  5. Report: Tax richest 0.5%, raise €213bn for EU coffers
  6. EU aid for Africa risks violating spending rules, Oxfam says
  7. Activists push €40bn fossil subsidies into Dutch-election spotlight
  8. Europe must Trump-proof its Ukraine arms supplies

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. 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.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. 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
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

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

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us