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EU corruption barometer

February 15, 2012

A European Union poll on corruption perceptions within the bloc sees Greece coming out top. Greeks see graft as a major problem in their country, but it's not just the Greeks who think they live in a swamp of dishonesty.

https://p.dw.com/p/143oU
An envelope with euor notes
Image: Fotolia/ThinMan

Greece leads the field in the European Union's latest poll on corruption perception. The Eurobarometer survey found that a staggering 98 percent of Greeks think that corruption is a major problem in their country - the highest percentage among the EU's 27 members.

The poll highlighted a well-known Greek weakness as Athens struggles to convince eurozone partners to lend it more money to avoid bankruptcy.

But Greece was followed closely in the poll by Portugal and Cyprus where 97 percent view corruption as widespread.

In contrast, the lowest proportion was found in Denmark, with a perception of corruption among just 19 percent of the population. Germany, with 57 percent, was comfortably below the rather disgraceful average of 74 percent.

Respondents were also asked specifically about whether their national institutions were corrupt. Again, Greece came out on top with 99 percent answering yes.

Broadside fired at Brussels

The survey also provided an embarrassment for the authorities in Brussels as 73 percent of those polled said they perceived the EU institutions to be corrupt.

"There is a divergence between perceptions and reality," European Commission spokesperson Michele Cercone said in a statement. He noted the percentage had fallen from 76 percent in the last Eurobarometer survey in 2009 and added that only a very small number of EU officials had been found guilty of graft.

The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, said the overall findings of the poll had to be carefully analyzed.

"It's disappointing to see that the results of the fight against corruption within the EU remains unsatisfactory," Malmström said in a statement in Brussels.

Brusselsalso made it clear that it had no figures or data linking corruption to the economic crisis that's gripping Europe.

hg/mll (dpa, Reuters, epd)