Corruption in EU Member States

16.5.2012

Question for oral answer O-000117/2012
to the Commission
Rule 115
Iliana Malinova Iotova, Claude Moraes, Ivailo Kalfin, Sylvie Guillaume, Kristian Vigenin, Ioan Enciu, Evgeni Kirilov, Alexander Mirsky, Rosario Crocetta, Tanja Fajon
on behalf of the S&D Group
Renate Weber, Stanimir Ilchev, Alexander Alvaro

Corruption within the EU Member States is still one of the EU’s most pressing problems (estimated to cost EUR 120 billion annually). According to Transparency International’s 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index, the EU countries still achieve an average score of just 6.4 on a scale of 0 to 10.

As corruption has a cross-border dimension and a serious impact on Member States’ financial resources, the economy, and the trust of citizens in their government, urgent measures are required at EU level to assess Member States actions’ to combat corruption.

There is a lack of political commitment to fighting corruption on the part of political leaders and policy-makers, and the implementation of anti-corruption legislation is uneven among the Member States and deemed to be unsatisfactory overall (COM(2011)0308). In its Action Plan Implementing the Stockholm Programme, the Commission stated that one of its future actions would be a ‘proposal for an evaluation mechanism of anti-corruption policies of the Member States’.

Consequently, the Commission adopted a decision establishing an EU Anti-corruption reporting mechanism (C(2011)3673), aimed at periodically assessing the situation of anti-corruption policies at EU level.

–     Could the Commission indicate the state of implementation of the above-mentioned Decision C(2011)3673 and how the Member States are complying with the new evaluation mechanism?

–     Does the Commission envisage a EU-wide definition of corruption as a serious crime and a harmonised level of penalties?

–     Would the Commission consider introducing a more stringent corruption-monitoring mechanism which would be binding on all Member States?

Tabled: 16.5.2012

Forwarded: 22.5.2012

Deadline for reply: 29.5.2012