Brussels, 03/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - According to the most recent corruption index published on Tuesday 3 December by the NGO, Transparency International, Greece is the most corrupt country in the EU. Although its score has improved compared to last year, it is still bottom of the class at a European level, ahead of Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Croatia. At the other end of the spectrum, Denmark is the country least affected by this phenomenon, ahead of Finland and Sweden, says Transparency International. The study is based on experts' perceptions of corruption in government institutions.
In 2014, the Commission will also present its first report on the extent of corruption in the EU, which will be based on data from NGOs and the main institutions affected by this phenomenon.
Transparency International believes that there has not been any fundamental shift in the EU since 2012, apart from a few exceptions: in Spain, there is a perception that corruption has increased and the country dropped six points (countries are given a score from 1 to 100, ranging from the most corrupt to the least corrupt), scoring 59. Slovenia has also experienced a similar trend and has dropped four points.
Denmark shares the top of the table with New Zealand. The Netherlands is in eighth place in this listing of 177 countries. Luxembourg, Germany and the United Kingdom are in 11th, 12th and 14th places respectively, with France in 22nd position. Afghanistan, Somalia and North Korea are the most corrupt countries in the world. (SP/transl.fl)