Today, the European Commission published the results of the fourth survey of European businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the European Union. Following interviews with 7,722 businesses in all Member States, the survey examined the problems encountered when trying to do business, national perceptions of the level of corruption and the practices leading to corruption. The survey also assessed the perception of corruption in public tenders and how companies see actions taken by Member States’ law enforcement, prosecution and judicial authorities to respond to corruption.
While European businesses generally perceive corruption to be less widespread than in 2013 (63%, down from 75% who believe it to be so), other results illustrate that the anti-corruption efforts must continue:
- Scepticism about how corruption is tackled – 51% of companies believe it unlikely that corrupt people or businesses will be caught by or reported to the police or prosecutors. Moreover, only 55% believe offenders will be heavily fined or imprisoned by the courts.
- Too close links between business and politics leads to corruption – Over half of respondents in 22 Member States agree that favouritism and corruption hamper business competition.
- Corruption believed to be widespread in public procurement – Businesses at regional or local (53%) and national level (54%) consider this to be the case, and 30% who took part in public procurement, say corruption prevented them from winning a public tender.
The full results of the survey can found on the European Commission’s Public Opinion page.
Details
- Publication date
- 9 December 2019