Three out of four Europeans think EU is corrupt – survey
73% of Europeans think there is corruption in the EU institutions, according to a Eurobarometer survey published today (15 February). This compares to 79% who think there is corruption in their national institutions.
The highest levels of EU distrust were found in Sweden, Austria and Belgium. The lowest levels were in Poland, Malta and Bulgaria. The figure is slightly down from the 76% who thought there was EU corruption in 2009.
The survey shows that almost half of Europeans think the level of corruption in their country has risen over the past three years. At the same time, 70% of Europeans think corruption is unavoidable and has always existed. Only 29% say they are personally affected by corruption, and 8% say they have been asked to pay a bribe in the past year.
Asked about the high percentage of Europeans who believe there is corruption in EU institutions, a European Commission spokesperson said it could be the result of impressions created by the EU’s “transparent” investigations of corruption cases, which results in media coverage.
He pointed out that out of 250 internal anti-corruption investigations carried out by the Commission from 2007-2011, only 30 cases of corruption were found, among a total of around 25,000 Commission civil servants.
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