The Rule of Law Report and Commission surveys show concerns over governments’ efforts to tackle corruption effectively

On 24 July 2024, the European Commission adopted its fifth annual Rule of Law Report. The report includes more than 40 anti-corruption recommendations for all EU countries, including follow-up measures to last year’s report, and four new chapters on enlargement candidate countries. The Rule of Law Report monitors positive and negative developments relating to the rule of law in EU countries and covers, apart from the anti-corruption framework, also the justice system, media pluralism, and other institutional matters related to checks and balances.

At the same time, the European Commission released the results of two surveys on the attitudes of citizens and businesses in the EU towards corruption (Special Eurobarometer 548 and Flash Eurobarometer 543). These surveys are conducted annually and provide valuable data for anti-corruption policymaking and the assessment of the Rule of Law Mechanism and Report.

How EU citizens perceive corruption in their countries

The Special Eurobarometer reveals that, while a majority of Europeans (61%) view corruption as unacceptable, most of them (68%) believe it is widespread in their country. Around one quarter of Europeans (27%) feel personally affected by corruption in their daily lives, marking an increase of three percentage points from the previous year.

More specifically, most Europeans believe that business and politics are too closely linked, leading to corruption (75%). The perception that corruption is diffuse in national public institutions is high (71%), with over half survey respondents saying that corruption is widespread among political parties (53%) and politicians at various levels (50%). There is a consensus among respondents that high-level corruption is not prosecuted adequately (65%), with only a minority saying that anti-corruption measures are impartial (35%), that prosecutions are sufficient (32%), or that efforts to combat corruption by national governments are effective (30%).

Many Europeans feel that reporting corruption is futile as the responsible parties will not be convicted (30%), also expressing a growing concern about the lack of protection for whistleblowers (28%). The police appear to be the most trusted institution to handle corruption cases, followed by the justice system.

What the business world has to say on corruption in the EU

The Flash Eurobarometer indicates that most EU-based companies perceive corruption as widespread in their country (64%), with more than 70% of those participating in the survey saying that favouritism and corruption undermine business competition, and that too close ties between business and politics lead to corruption (79%).

More than half of the respondents view corruption as prevalent in public procurement, with 27% stating that it has prevented them from securing contracts. Corruption is considered as a problem by 37% of companies when doing business. Moreover, over 50% doubt the effectiveness of corruption investigations and sanctions.

Next steps

The Commission plans to use these Eurobarometer survey results to identify specific anti-corruption support needs at national level. The mechanism includes various tools and processes to prevent, detect, and address threats to the rule of law in EU countries.

Find out more

2024 Rule of Law report

Special Eurobarometer 548

Flash Eurobarometer 543

Corruption in the public opinion

The Commission’s 2023 surveys on corruption show growing scepticism among Europeans