Corruption monitor positive on the EU, sees local differences

BRUSSELS - Europe continues to be world’s leading region in terms of corruption-free governance, according to the latest (November 2009) survey by Transparency International (TI), the Berlin-based watch-dog on corruption around the world. The biggest European countries are rated above the United States, but some east European nations continue to struggle with corruption. In TI’s annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Denmark holds the least corrupt score in Europe with a ranking of 9.3 (out of 10). Denmark trails New Zealand, 9.4, ranked as the least corrupt country in the world. But Greece, along with Bulgaria, Romania and EU-candidate Macedonia, all tied for 71st place (out of 180) with the score of 3.8. This ranking makes them the EU’s most corrupt countries. These countries’ “poor score shows that joining the EU does not automatically translate into a reduction of corruption,” TI commented. The United States comes in just below Britain at 18th in the world with a score of 7.6. Other EU countries in the top least corrupt are Sweden, Switzerland, Finland and Netherlands (tied for 6th) and Iceland (8th). The Dutch themselves think that the level of corruption at home has increased, mostly because of problems with national and local institutions.