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Topic: Corruption in the EU

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	SCADPlus: A comprehensive EU anti-corruption policy
		The aim is to reduce all forms of corruption, at every level, in all EU countries and institutions and even outside the EU.
		Although the EU adopted a Regulation in June 2002 requiring listed companies, including banks and insurance companies, to prepare their consolidated accounts in accordance with International Accounting Standards (IAS) and issued recommendations on the independence of the statutory auditor, there are at present no agreed auditing standards in the EU.
		In its fight against corruption and as part of its new neighbourhood policy, the EU is examining the possibilities for stepping up police and judicial cooperation and developing mutual legal assistance with neighbouring countries.
	europa.eu /scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l33301.htm (2012 words)

	Corruption and EU Enlargement: Who is Prepared?
		However, there is significant evidence that a number of EU member states are troubled by significant levels of corruption, ranging from the Elf Aquitaine affair in France to a spate of major party financing scandals in Germany.
		However, other kinds of corruption, such as corrupt political party financing, may undermine the transposition of the acquis into national legislation (and in several cases in candidate states probably already have), not to speak of undermining the democratic values on which the EU purports to be founded.
		As far as corruption is concerned, the clearest way to pursue this objective is for the EU to join GRECO, adopt the Council of Europe’s 20 Guiding Principles for the Fight Against Corruption, and participate in the development of the Principles and GRECO’s monitoring framework.
	www.eumap.org /journal/features/2002/nov02/corruptionwhoprepared (1224 words)

	New EU Members Score Badly in Corruption Ranking- Nations and States - Global Policy Forum
		Corruption is rife in Romania and Bulgaria according to a ranking released by Transparency International on Monday.
		The index -- measured on a ten point scale with 10 as least corrupt and 0 as most -- revealed corruption is perceived to be rampant in almost half of the 163 countries studied.
		Marschall said Romania's score is "devastating for a country that will join the EU next year." Still, foreign direct investment has been on the rise in Romania, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, suggesting businesses find it an increasingly attractive environment to invest in.
	www.globalpolicy.org /nations/launder/regions/2006/1106cpieu.htm (881 words)

	News
		“The EU has noted that transparency and accountability of government interventions remain crucial issues to be addressed at all levels of government in Pakistan,” the EU noted with a concern that public scrutiny, law enforcement and other effective measures needed to be intensified to prevent “corrupt practices”.
		Though the EU welcomed the government decision to defer some military expenditure, it stressed the need for continued decentralisation of decision-making and resource allocation through the devolution process to local civil administration at provincial and district levels with increase in social sector spending and judicious re-prioritisation in the budget.
		Referring to macro-economic stability, the EU warned the government against the risk of growing inequality and suggested that the government needed to ensure the participation of the poor in economic growth with the active participation of women to achieve such sustainability.
	www.pakistanlink.com /Headlines/May06/11/11.htm (319 words)

	International Efforts to Combat Corruption
		Furthermore, they now perceived corruption abroad as negatively influencing their own trade opportunities: Suddenly dictators like Mobutu or Suharto were recognized as irrational trade barriers blocking the access to interesting markets.
		Private to private corruption is under examination in a further stage of its work, but it is perceived as a quite different problem.
		Apart from this broad notion of corruption a striking difference to the OECD approach to transnational bribery is its reference back to the law of the victim country for definitions of officials.
	www.respondanet.com /ENGLISH/anti_corruption/reports/gore/pieth.htm (2297 words)

	Taking a Bite Out of Corruption (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		"The government is determined to fight corruption," Skandalidis told reporters shortly before the holidays adding that he had placed a "personal bet" to win the fight against bribery and other dirty-dealings in the public sector.
		Greece holds the worst position among European countries regarding the perception of how corrupt the country is, according to Transparency International (TI) in Greece, a branch of the Berlin-based coalition campaigning since 1993 against bribery and corruption.
		Based on this treaty, corruption is defined as any request, offer, giving or accepting, directly or indirectly, a bribe or any other undue advantage or prospect thereof which distorts the proper performance of any duty or behaviour required of the recipient of the bribe, the undue advantage or the prospect thereof.
	www.helleniccomserve.com /biteoutofcorruption.html (1119 words)

	Enlarging EU 'risks additional corruption' \| The Guardian \| Guardian Unlimited
		The issue of corruption has also become a weapon, politicians ruthlessly using sleaze allegations to discredit their opponents and parties running anti-corruption campaigns to win power and then allowing the corruption to flourish.
		The prevalence of corruption in the east European states could affect the dissemination of EU funds and upset the way the union operates after the new members enter the union, the report says.
		The EU Copenhagen summit next month is to clear the way for Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, and the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia to join in 2004.
	www.guardian.co.uk /international/story/0,3604,836574,00.html (682 words)

	EU Fights Corruption Abroad But Not At Home (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		The European Parliament has called for a fllist of corrupt governments to be drawn up so that EU development aid is not directed to crooked pockets, writes EUobserver.
		Transparency is not a well-known concept in Brussels, where after years of whistleblowers and commissions to clean up the EU corruption is still rampant.
		The EU is the world’s biggest aid donor (when you add up the 25 member states), providing a total of €35.5 billion per year, which is more than twice the next biggest donor – the US with €16 billion.
	www.brusselsjournal.com /node/970/print (258 words)

	A tale of an EU whistleblower \| Samizdata.net
		As the Telegraph reports Mr McCoy's offence - as it was apparently regarded by some EU staff and politicians - was to stumble upon, investigate and then seek to correct a series of financial irregularities within the Committee of the Regions (CoR), whose annual budget is €38 million (£27 million).
		Corruption at the EU is more in line with traditional, continental methods.
		He was appointed, I thought, specifically to rid the EU of corruption after Santer and Commissioners resigned because of it.
	www.samizdata.net /blog/archives/004655.html (2115 words)

	Press Release - UNIS/CP/433
		A national action plan to curb corruption in Hungary was presented yesterday to participants of the one-day workshop in Brussels within the framework of the European Forum on the prevention of organised crime.
		Using the case study of Hungary and presenting other approaches of the EU, the Council of Europe, the OECD, private sector and civil society representatives, the participants of the workshop looked at the utility of anti-corruption measures and policies that could be replicated by other EU countries.
		The focus of the pilot projects is on three types of corruption: the "street-level" experience of citizens with public agencies, private sector corruption and high-level corruption in finance and politics.
	www.unodc.org /unodc/en/press_release_2003-06-12_1.html (620 words)

	CPS \| Monitor \| Corruption
		As their mission statement declares, they aim to fight corruption and bribery in international business transactions through international and national coalitions encouraging governments to establish and implement effective laws, policies and anti-corruption programs.
		The former deals with preventing fraud and corruption within bank-financed projects, helping countries in their efforts to reduce corruption by advising on economic policy reform and strengthening institutional capability, and supporting international efforts to reduce corruption.
		In response to the call in the Action Plan on combating organised crime for a comprehensive EU policy against corruption, a report on the implementation of the Commission’s communication on Corruption was submitted to the European Council in Cardiff in 1998 together with a report on the criminal law response.
	www.osi.hu /eumap/corr1.htm (2703 words)

	Romanian government opens own probe into corruption charge - EUbusiness - EU law, politics and finance
		In September the European Commission said it had launched a corruption inquiry after it emerged that money had been paid to the family of the Minister for European Integration Hildegard Puwak for bogus business projects.
		Romanian media recently revealed that two companies run by Puwak's husband and son had obtained 150,000 euros (160,000 dollars) in EU funding to operate business training schemes after she was appointed to her job in December 2000.
		According to the reports, several German companies cited as partners in the various business plans were owned by friends of the Puwak family and were listed with bogus telephone numbers attached.
	www.eubusiness.com /Romania/031010133239.mtctuz5b (334 words)

	Breaking News: Post-EU Romania Needs Corruption Control - The Post Chronicle
		A strategy to prevent corruption is still needed, said Victor Alistar, president of non-governmental Transparency International Romania, the Bucharest Daily News reported Tuesday.
		Alistar said the most vulnerable areas of corruption are the health system, education, public acquisitions, distribution of infrastructure contracts and relations between citizens and representatives of local authorities.
		EU officials have praised Romania for judicial and anti-corruption reforms in meeting standards to enter the Western bloc as planned on Jan. 1.
	www.postchronicle.com /news/breakingnews/article_21216884.shtml (354 words)

	Fight against corruption at a near standstill in future EU countries (via CobWeb/3.1 planetlab2.cs.unc.edu) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Asked how he managed to build a house for seven million euros, former nationalist Slovak prime minister Vladimir Meciar who was an ordinary worker until the collapse of the communist regime in 1989, simply replied that a friend had lent him the money.
		The candidate countries have adopted new legislation to enable them to step up the fight against corruption, but the law is not always applied.
		Hungary was ranked the 40th least corrupt country among 133 nations surveyed for the study, while Slovenia and Estonia respectively came in at positions 29 and 33.
	quickstart.clari.net.cob-web.org:8888 /qs_se/webnews/wed/bd/Qworld-corruption-eu.Raz5_DO7.html (591 words)

	international organisations / donor_policies / aid_corruption / global priorities / home - Transparency International
		GRECO was established by the Council of Europe in 1999 as a follow-up mechanism, called to monitor the observance of the Guiding Principles in the fight against corruption and the implementation of international legal instruments adopted in pursuance of the Programme of Action against Corruption.
		The EU has made fight against corruption one of its highest political priorities, both in its internal affairs and in its relations with third countries.
		These guidelines are intended to cover EU co-operation with all developing countries and regions as referred to in the Joint Statement of the Council and the Commission on Community’s Development Policy1.
	www.transparency.org /global_priorities/aid_corruption/donor_policies/international_organisations (1121 words)

	Poll: 'EU not free of corruption' \| European Union Public Affairs
		Sixty nine percent say that their government is not effective in fighting corruption, or that it makes no effort to fight it, or that it actually encourages corruption.
		Ordinary citizens perceived political parties, on average, to be the institution most affected by corruption, followed by parliaments and legislatures and then by the business sector.
		Corruption levels were lowest in Finland and Iceland, the report said.
	www.euractiv.com /en/pa/poll-eu-free-corruption/article-160335 (785 words)

	Europe congratulates Turkey on anti-corruption moves - EUbusiness - EU law, politics and finance (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Its bid has stumbled, however, due to Ankara's refusal to open its ports to EU member Cyprus until the bloc eases sanctions on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a breakaway territory on the island.
		EU should be looking for corruption in Greek Cypriot controlled parts of Cyprus.
		If Turkey had any honour or self respect it would walk away from the EU now, it interprets a slap in the face as a manly victory to it`s stupid population.
	www.eubusiness.com /East_Europe/061130190807.uo36q3gz/view (832 words)

	Jedi Council Forums - The EU Senate: Lite! now with 50% less corruption
		I guess I'm one of them...We are all members of the EU Senate...
		The EUS Tours were formulated to answer that question, but only so as to highlight our mission statement.
		I've said that the EUS should be kind of like a glue that keeps people together.
	boards.theforce.net /eu_community/b10194/14546107/r25429113 (849 words)

	CORRUPTION: EU Urged To Act Against Bribery
		A strong debarment system is critical "to prevent corrupt companies from enjoying the benefits of publicly funded contracts anywhere in the European Union, at any level," TI Chair Huguette Labelle said in her letter to Kallas.
		The EU has provisions for excluding companies from public tenders if they are found to have bribed someone.
		The objective of the roundtable was to explore ways to strengthen and expand the EU's debarment system, taking into account the experience of international organisations like the World Bank, EU member states and Transparency International.
	www.ipsnews.net /news.asp?idnews=32802 (721 words)

	EU Commission Sets Poor Corruption Example
		At the November 19 meeting of the EU Commission President JosÃ© Manuel Barroso shamefully threatened UK Independence Party's Nigel Farage with "legal consequences" for daring to reveal the shady past of EU Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot.
		The resulting furor at that revelation forced Barroso to back off his threat of "legal consequences" but that it was made at all in response to a corruption accusation is yet more fuel for the fire of well-founded Euro-skeptics.
		I'm sure developing nations can't wait to hear Europeans lecture them about corruption after such a blatant failure to deal with official corruption in their own corner of the world.
	www.overpopulation.com /articles/2004/000042.html (229 words)

	ParaPundit: New OSI Report On EU Accession Country Corruption
		In Poland, the issue of corruption is providing ammunition to populist parties that are - ironically - opposed to EU accession.
		Corruption is a serious problem in public administration in almost all candidate States, underpinned inter alia by the absence of effective appeal procedures and widespread conflicts of interest.
		Corruption in public procurement remains a serious problem in most if not all candidate States: bribes of 10-20 percent of contract value appear to be typical, while collusion between bidders appears to be widespread across countries as different as Slovenia and Bulgaria.
	www.parapundit.com /archives/000583.html (469 words)

	Enlaces: Corruption hurts the poor (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Noting that 25% of Africa's GDP is lost annually to corruption, - the report calls on all EU members to implement the OECD and UN Conventions on corruption and for greater accountability and openness in EU aid programmes.
		Increasingly at present, EU development aid goes directly into the national coffers of recipient countries in the form of budget support, and the proportion has grown from 14% in 2001 to around 30% in 2004.
		Finally, MEPs call on Member States, with major financial centres on their territory, to take legal and administrative measures to ensure that funds acquired illegally are repatriated to their country of origin.
	2006.asociacionenlaces.org /2006/04/corruption_hurts_the_poor.html (304 words)

	BBC NEWS \| Europe \| Corruption blights Balkan EU bids (via CobWeb/3.1 planetlab2.cs.unc.edu) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Both countries were urged to improve systems for managing EU farm subsidies.
		But the Commission said they should be able to meet the EU requirements before a decision next year on whether or not to let them join on schedule.
		Mr Rehn said areas of serious concern applied to about 10% of the EU legislation Romania and Bulgaria were required to adopt.
	news.bbc.co.uk.cob-web.org:8888 /2/hi/europe/4374444.stm (382 words)

	FT.com / World / Europe - Albania boosts corruption fight to aid EU bid (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		The SAA, seen as a first step towards EU accession although it does not carry any guarantee of future membership, has still to be ratified by the 25 member states amid continuing concern over illegal immigration and drug trafficking involving Albanian crime groups.
		Mr Berisha, whose right-of-centre government took office last September, says he accepts that progress with EU integration "has to be performance-based, so enforcing the rule of law is a critical priority".
		A drive to reduce corruption in public administration has brought procurement procedures in line with EU practice, cuts in administrative spending and a reward scheme for whistleblowers.
	www.ft.com /cms/s/0ebaa824-2d8d-11db-851d-0000779e2340.html (525 words)

	BBC NEWS \| Europe \| Corruption blights Balkan EU bids
		If they fall short on reform, their entry into the EU could be delayed until January 2008.
		The possibility of joining in 2007 was not lost, but making it "will require a lot of work from both countries", he told the EU assembly.
		Having missed the last big wave of EU expansion last year, Bulgaria and Romania signed an accession treaty in April.
	news.bbc.co.uk /2/hi/europe/4374444.stm (374 words)

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