Greece nudges up but fails transparency test
Greece may have improved its record on corruption in 2007, compared to last year, but it still failed to attain a «pass» rate, according to a world survey. Transparency International’s (TI) annual report rates Greece with 4.6 out of 10, in 56th position out of 179 countries and in last position among the 15-member European Union before enlargement. The TI survey is conducted annually on the basis of research by recognized private and international organizations which monitor the opinions of businesspeople, academics and risk analysts for the countries in which they are active. Only 46 of the 179 nations surveyed obtained the «pass» rate of 5, including Cyprus (5.3). The world laggards are Somalia (1.4), Myanmar and Iraq (1.5) and Haiti (1.6). In contrast, corruption appears almost zero in Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, which are rated with 9.4. Singapore, Sweden, Iceland, the Netherlands, Canada, Norway, Australia and Luxembourg follow with ratings between 9.3 and 8.4. Turkey stands in 64th position, with 4.1. Costas Bakouris, head of TI’s Greek chapter, said the fact that Greece is still an EU laggard «indicates that the effort for improvement has to continue at an even more intensive pace.» According to the survey, 17 percent of Greeks admitted that they have paid a bribe to public servants, and 70 percent recognize corruption as a problem. TI calls for a strengthening of judicial independence and the promotion of accountability on the part of public servants in order to upgrade the credibility of public administration. Bakouris said the initiatives and guidelines which must be pursued by the government concerned the stricter enforcement of existing laws rather than the introduction of new ones. TI also calls for the protection of individuals willing to contribute to efforts to reveal cases of corruption, and the strengthening of the European institutional framework for combating money laundering.
