Transparency International, (TI), an international NGO dedicated to fighting corruption released their annual International Corruption Perceptions Index, or CPI, last month. No real surprises globally, corrupt practices dominate countries that also have little freedom. African and Asian countries with repressive regimes were considered the most corrupt, along with some former (and present) communist countries such as Russia and North Korea. Western Europe and North America fared well, as might be expected.
(Although, when still-PM Chrétien publicly assailed international corruption last week, he seemed to have conveniently forgotten about local Liberal misdeeds, notably in la belle province, and about cronies such as Alfonso Gagliano, who is being kept at arm’s length these days)
Actually, it is Europe that provides the most interesting examples. More specifically, the New Europe and the Old Europe. The former are countries ending the long journey from the grip of communism, soon to enter the European Union, the latter the wealthy, content EU nations.
As TI’s index noted, the transition from Eastern Europe — or the New Europe — is still taking place. The concern noted by the compilers of the index is what will take place once the newcomers are safely ensconced in the wealthy bosom of the EU. How will corruption be eradicated? Will the body of law, or acquis communautaire of the EU, once adopted prove stronger than greed? Corruption is all about greed, and on a state level has to do with misappropriation of funds. Russia is good at losing track of international aid money, the fear expressed in the Old Europe is that the New Europe will take time to shake that communist legacy, once common funds are available.
It is an interesting question to wrestle with. That grappling analogy proves useful here, allowing me even a pun or two. Classical wrestling, or Greco-Roman, as it was once known, allows only upper body holds and throws. In free-style, as the name indicates, almost everything goes, in a cinch. Wrestling is one of the oldest sports known to man, dating back to the days of the Pharaohs and to the Sumerians. In the modern era Estonians have done well in international competition — Georg Hackendschmidt was the absolute (heavyweight) champion at the first ever European championships, held in 1898. He was followed by strongmen Jaago, Alberg, Lurich; at the Olympics Palusalu, Kotkas, Pütsep, Väli, Neo brought home medals of every colour.
Estonians are part of the New Europe — and they are wrestling with corruption much better than some in the Old Europe. Notably, both Estonia and Slovenia have marked themselves, according to the CPI, as less corrupt than EU members Greece and Italy. Flogging an already dead pun, the Greco-Romans, if you will. The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption ( known by the acronym GRECO, there I go again....) — which monitors the anti-corruption policies of Euuropean states — notes that corruption in Greece is most prevalent in the allocation of EU funds. Precisely the fear felt by established EU members regarding what the newcomers might do with support euros.
To be fair, the problems in the countries soon to be joining the EU are not unexpected. They should not be difficult to resolve. Freedom has brought opportunities for misuse of power, or misinterpretation of same. The public remains cynical of politicians, another legacy of the communist past. (Siim Kallas, former Estonian Bank president, Foreign Minister and PM is still widely regarded as the man who was able to make millions of US dollars “disappear” without being brough to account).
In such a situation law and order can be fragile, crime rampant. Consider only the recent allegations of serious weight tossed against Lithuanian president Rolandas Paksas, of his financial involvement with organized Russian crime, the mafiya. As a result Lithuania’s international reputation is taking quite a battering.
TI is urging that GRECO’s process of peer review be adopted within the EU — at present such a system, in which countries evaluate each other’s progress on anti-corruption measures is not part of the EU’s body of law.
Tl notes, that in the New Europe legislation on public procurement (that department where Gagliano reigned for a while in Canada until found out and forced by scandal to resign) has been steadily improving. Yet, a lack of supervison, and importantly, an absence of criminal convictions have meant that bribery — the oil that lubricates the machinery of corrupt states — remains widespread.
All over post-communist Europe — criminally so in Russia — assets from privatized companies have been siphoned off into private pockets. That explains the wealth, the obscene ostentation seen in housing and material goods such as luxury cars, viewed by some visitors as signs of success, transition to the free-market system.
The Estonian example can be used here — not as proof of corruption, but as of the possibility of corrupt acts taking place. Although in Estonia the legislative framework is in place — and publicly, at least, adhered to — the understaffed Public Procurement Office lacks independence from the executive, thus making monitoring almost impossible.
Where Estonia and Slovenia have a great advantage is in enjoying a free media. It is not yet pluralistic — foreign ownership and fear of certain vested interests means not everything is printed, or revealed to the public. Enough so, however, that people in the public eye tread with caution.
That is the message to be found in the CPI index. Some New Europe countries are working hard, others, such as Poland and the Czech Republic are slipping back into familiar practices. Conflicts of interest between public and private must be avoided, legislation enforced, disclosure requirements of pols and public officials must become a priority.
Even in the EU change needs to be made. Until 1999 it was not an offence to bribe foreign public officials. In France and Germany bribes abroad were actually tax-deductible expenses at home! What kind of a message is that for New Europe? To date, no convictions under the EU Anti-Bribery Convention, in force since 1999, have been made.
TI’s CPI index should thus force Old Europe to take a long hard look at its own practices, before publicly voicing concerns about the “corruption gap” with the New Europe.
Leader: Wrestling with corruption
Arvamus
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