Archive | European Union RSS feed for this section

Reconstruction in Italy: We need transparency and monitoring activities 

31 August 2016 in Accountability, Civil society, Europe and Central Asia, European Union

It’s true, “Italians do their best in moments of emergency.” Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said it after the earthquake that devastated central Italy on 24 August. Italy’s President echoed the Prime Minister and we all tell it to ourselves every time that the images remind us that we are a country that rolls up […]

Read full story Comments { 0 }

Give us our daily scandal

26 March 2015 in Access to information, Accountability, Anti-corruption movement, Civil society, Cost of Corruption, Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Impunity, Lobbying, Measurement and Research, Politics and government, Whistleblowing

When Transparency International announces the results of the Corruption Perceptions Index in December and Italy performs badly again, there will always be at least one commentator who feigns surprise. How could it happen? Italy has the same score as Bulgaria and Senegal again? The index must be wrong.’ The writer unquestionably accepts the scores for […]

Read full story Comments { 2 }

Europe, Central Asia and the state of corruption in 2014: the gold standard?

3 December 2014 in Accountability, Civil society, Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Impunity, Lobbying, Measurement and Research, People power, Politics and government

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that out of 175 countries in the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index, the once great economic hope of many – Turkey – suffered one of the biggest drops in score (down five points to 45 out of 100 on a scale where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 very […]

Read full story Comments { 4 }

Moldova: time to tackle corruption

26 November 2014 in Accountability, Anti-corruption movement, Civil society, Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Impunity, Measurement and Research, Oil and gas, Politics and government

Moldova is a small land-locked country of 3.5 million people in the heart of Europe and, amid all the turmoil in neighbouring Ukraine, we will be going to the polls on 30 November. Given our position, our large Russian-speaking population and our dependence on Russian gas, this election may determine how far Moldova can progress […]

Read full story Comments { 0 }

Corruption and banking: forex heralds an important change in rhetoric

19 November 2014 in Accountability, Anti-corruption Conventions, Anti-corruption movement, Asset recovery, Civil society, Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Financial Markets, Impunity, Lobbying, Measurement and Research, Politics and government, Private sector

This week’s announcement about the rigging of the foreign exchange markets marks one significant change: at last, the media and the Chancellor are using the word corruption to describe this behaviour. Today we take tough action to clean up corruption.” – UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne Since the financial crisis started in 2008, banks have been fined […]

Read full story Comments { 3 }

The hard business of easy access

17 November 2014 in Europe and Central Asia, European Union, G20, Politics and government

News of the arrest of 11 people, including high-ranking public officials, on suspicions of corruption in the issuing of so-called golden visas rocked Portugal this weekend. Officials stand accused of having taken bribes to supply residency permits to preferred millionaire foreign “investors”, revealing just one of the many problems with “Golden Visa” programmes that must […]

Read full story Comments { 0 }

Speaking up for Greek whistleblowers

28 October 2014 in Access to information, Accountability, ALAC, Anti-corruption movement, Civil society, Cost of Corruption, Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Human rights, People power, Politics and government, Whistleblowing

A passionate antiquities specialist, K. blew the whistle on malpractice he witnessed on a restoration site. The result? He was called to account and has continued to suffer retaliation since. Sophia Ioannou explains what happened – and why urgent action is needed to protect K. and others who speak up against corruption. K.’s story It […]

Read full story Comments { 4 }

5 women who inspire YOU

7 March 2014 in Accountability, Anti-corruption movement, Civil society, Education, European Union, Health, Human rights, People power, Politics and government, Poverty and development, Young people

All this week in the run up to International Women’s Day on 8 March, we’ve been celebrating female corruption fighters from across the world and asking YOU to share the names of women who have motivated you to stand up for justice and demand accountability at #WomenAgainstCorruption. From hard-hitting magistrates to celebrities and indefatigable rights […]

Read full story Comments { 0 }

Eu to freeze corrupt assets from Ukraine

5 March 2014 in Asset recovery, Cost of Corruption, Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Impunity, People power, Politics and government

Corruption has been at the heart of the Ukrainian political system for years. According to the latest Corruption Perceptions Index, Ukraine scored 25 out of 100, making it the lowest scoring country in Europe. The Global Corruption Barometer found that 74 percent of Ukrainians said public sector corruption is a serious problem. 47 percent said their government is entirely run by a few big entities acting in their own interest.

Read full story Comments { 0 }

Slovenia: ‘Women’s voices must be louder’

4 March 2014 in Accountability, ALAC, Anti-corruption movement, Civil society, Education, Europe and Central Asia, European Union, Lobbying, Measurement and Research, Politics and government, Private sector, Whistleblowing, Young people

Saturday 8 March is International Women’s Day, and to mark the occasion we’re celebrating women corruption fighters across the world! All this week we’ll be interviewing some of the many remarkable women who fight corruption in our movement, and on Friday we’ll be profiling the women who spur YOU on to stand up against injustice. […]

Read full story Comments { 0 }
← Older posts