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Good Act, deplorable guidance

Robert Barrington is Director of External Affairs at Transparency International UK The UK has had a long wait for a law that is compliant with the 1997 OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, and this week the Government finally announced that the 2010 Bribery Act will come into force in July. It is a good law, and builds […]

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Mind the gap! MEPs must tighten up their act

Picture: stevecadman (flickr) || Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0 Recent allegations that three Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) accepted the promise of payments to table amendments on behalf of individuals posing as a ‘lobbying firm’ must instigate strong reforms at the European Parliament. It is far more difficult to investigate and successfully prosecute allegations of […]

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Licence to kill: banking experts discuss EU crisis management proposals

Commissioner responsible for the functioning of the EU’s internal market – has pledged to improve the representation of civil society groups in these meetingsto avoid the perceived stranglehold that the banking industry had on the European regulators in the run-up to 2008’s financial meltdown. On the evidence of the meeting I attended this week (Monday […]

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FIFA: No way back. Es führt kein Weg zurück

By Sylvia Schenk, Transparency International’s Senior Advisor on Corruption in Sport. German original below. Should one actually feel sorry for FIFA? For days now you could watch FIFA desperately trying to keep the balance amidst corruption revelations. The planned decision regarding the hosts of the World Cups in 2018 and 2022 on 2 December in […]

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Will the new Code of Conduct for EU Commissioners have teeth?

Stories of conflict of interests among top European Union officials are becoming all-too-frequent headlines in the news. The problems have largely sprung from the so-called revolving door that has been created in Brussels as officials exit public service and quickly enter into the charge of business. The EU capital is not alone in having a […]

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2009 Global Corruption Report: Corruption and the Private Sector

When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, a 6-year old girl said she wanted to be a corrupt official, because they have so many things. After recovering from the shock of the little girl’s answer, the next question that arises is: how is it that these officials can accumulate so many […]

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What is ‘lobbying’ and its link to corruption?

Back-corridor negotiation on proposed legislation is a practice that runs from Brasília to Washington, Bruxelles to ar-Rabāṭ. However, the relationships between policy-makers and interest groups walk a fine ethical line that separates participatory democracy from state capture. Striking legislative deals are generally considered to be just one part of broader lobbying efforts undertaken by groups […]

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European elections – time to rethink weak transparency rules?

Thursday is an important day for Europe. The elections for the European Parliament begin. The expenses scandal in the UK shows that politicians in Europe are no angels. Therefore trust, transferred by vote, should be supplemented by clear regulations and transparency rules on the European level. Although there have been some steps in the past, […]

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