Corruption in Europe
Corruption results in poor economic growth and development, discouraging foreign investment. Corruption can be defined as the abuse of the powers entrusted onto someone or a group of individuals for their private gain. Corruption takes various forms, for instance, grand corruption and petty corruption. Grand occurs in the top institution and petty that occurs almost every day in public institutions and the citizens. The perpetrators are always looking for new ways to perfect their practice and also to cover their tracks. Corruption has adverse effects on the development and well-being of individuals within any country or society. Among these effects include the increase of inequality and poverty gap, making it difficult for a democracy to flourish, making economic growth difficult, reduction of tax revenues, and the effectiveness of various financial assistance programs. Europe, just like many other parts of the world, has not been left out in the corruption dragon. While the corruption levels in the continent are low, the corruption levels differ from one country to another. Among the countries that have recorded high levels of corruption in the continent are Bulgaria and Italy. Corruption in these two counties has differences and some similarities and affects the well-being of the citizens and development significantly.
Bulgaria is a country in Eastern Europe. According to data that was compiled by Transparency International, a non-governmental organization, Bulgaria ranks highly in the corruption indexes in Europe (Chenel & Moynihan 2019). Corruption in Bulgaria takes numerous forms and includes both grand and petty corruption. For the grand corruption, the major companies in the country are always faced with demands for bribes when registering their businesses. For the petty corruption, one-third of the citizens in the country view public officials as corrupt.
Regarding the judicial system, there is high corruption in the Bulgarian legal sector. Companies in the country raise concerns on the independence of the judiciary (“GAN Integrity,” 2017). The judiciary remains among the least trusted institutions in the country. To worsen the situation, the superior courts in the country have few resources and follow cumbersome procedures which hinder their delivery of justice. Concerning the police, corruption is widespread among the Bulgarian police sector. The citizens claim that corruption is being headed by the police department. On the public services, Bulgaria’s public service is greatly afflicted by corruption, and foreign companies operating here are forced to pay bribes to public officials to facilitate payments (”GAN Integrity,” 2017). Besides, corruption at the lower levels of government is widespread. Almost a fifth of companies operating in the country are expected to give gifts to obtain construction permits. Concerning tax administration, there is moderate corruption. Companies in the country have reported bribes when paying taxes (“GAN Integrity,” 2017). Concerning public procurement, this is a highly risky activity in the country with kickbacks and bribery being widely reported. The use of single-bidding contracts has been observed to enhance corruption in the public procurement sector.
Italy is a country in Southern Europe with one of the most extensive coastlines in the world. According to recent data by the Transparency International, Italy was ranked as the seventh most corrupt county in Europe with 52 points (Chenel & Moynihan 2019). Just like in Bulgaria, corruption in Italy takes the form of both grand and petty corruption. The judicial system is one of the sectors highly affected by corruption in the country. The judicial sector in Italy is not as corrupt as the one in Bulgaria, which is high risk. The Italian judiciary is highly autonomous with limited government interference. However, despite this autonomy, over half of the businesses in the country and also citizens regard the independence of the judiciary as limited to some extent (”GAN Integrity”, 2017). The other corrupt sector in the country is the police. The Italian law enforcers have a moderate risk to corruption, a slight improvement compared to the Bulgarian police. Companies in the country have slightly average trust in the police force. Authorities have established effective mechanisms to investigate abuse and corruption among the police force, but delays in the courts hamper the efforts of these courts.
The public service is another corrupt sector in Italy. There is moderate corruption in the sector, and it is highly unlikely to hear individuals complaining of corrupt practices when seeking government services, unlike in Bulgaria, where public service corruption is widespread. However, there exists a lot of government bureaucracy which hinders individuals from accessing public services (”GAN Integrity”, 2017). Tax administration in Italy, unlike in Bulgaria, is characterized by high levels of corruption. Tax officials have been identified to receive a large number of bribes, and this is one of the most rampant behaviors. Moreover, companies operating in the country have revealed of secret meeting with tax officials where they demand bribes. As a testament to the high levels of corruption in tax administration in Italy, the authorities have been unable to clamp down on the growing black market in the country as well as reduce the high cases of tax evasion which are rampant.
Custom administration is also associated with corruption in Italy (“GAN Integrity”, 2017). However, it is moderate in the country compared to Bulgaria, where it is widespread. Companies have expressed their overall satisfaction with the custom clearance procedures and processes, although occasionally bribes are exchanged to hasten the process. The legislation is another source of corruption in Italy. The criminal code of Italy criminalizes all forms of corruption, such as extortion, active, and passive bribery. The anti-corruption framework was last strengthened in 2015. However, there is a need to revise the legislation to make it more effective. Natural resources are yet another source of corruption in Italy, unlike in Bulgaria (”GAN Integrity”, 2017). Recently, a steel industry owned by the Riva family was shut down for releasing carcinogenic into the air and revelations that the owners had corrupted health safety authorities to cover up the environmental hazards.
Corruption in Bulgaria and Italy has severe consequences on the well-being of the individuals and also on the development of the respective countries. In Bulgaria, corruption has affected various sectors. One of the sectors in the healthcare sector, where corruption is rife due to the organization of the sector. One of the forms of corruption in Bulgaria’s healthcare sector is informal payments for medical services, which hinder paints from low-income families from accessing healthcare services (Deliversky, 2016). To begin with, the rampant corruption in the country has led to widespread embezzlement of Italy tax payer’s money amounting to more than 3 billion Euros (Roe, 2015). Besides, corruption has put the security of Bulgaria at significant risk. Corruption has been observed to have a disruptive character on the economic development and international image of the country (Terziev &Petkov, 2018). Economically, corruption in the country has led to the growth of the grey economy. Besides, corruption in the country reduces investment profitability, generating uncertainty in the returns to investment. Moreover, it reduces Foreign Direct Investments hence affecting the levels of technical progress. Further, corruption in the country affects the quality of government expenditure.
In conclusion, corruption in Bulgaria and Italy has been presented above identifies the significant forms of corruption and the sectors greatly affected by the vice, as well as the impacts of corruption on these two European economies. There is an urgent need for both countries to address the high levels of corruption reported. The fight against corruption in Bulgaria has been protracted, and in January 2019, the nation launched the new Anti-corruption and Forfeiture of Assets Act (AFAA). Since the adoption of the legislation, the Special Prosecution Office has begun cleaning up corruption in the country. In Italy, there is a need for an anti-corruption watchdog to oversee the successful implementation of corruption reforms. Tackling corruption in both countries is necessary for economic prosperity.
References
Chenel, T., & Moynihan, R. (2019, Feb 13).These are the 13 most corrupt countries in Europe. Retrieved fromhttps://www.businessinsider.com/these-are-the-13-most-corrupt-countries-in-europe-2019-2?IR=T
Deliversky, J., (2016). How does corruption affect the healthcare sector in Bulgaria. Retrieved fromhttps://www.journal-imab-bg.org/issues-2016/issue1/JofIMAB_2016-22-1p1088-1090.pdf
GAN Integrity (2017, December). Bulgaria Corruption Report. Retrieved from https://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/bulgaria/
GAN Integrity (2017, December). Italy Corruption Report. Retrieved from https://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/italy/
Roe, A., (2015, September 21). The Effects of Corruption in Italy. Retrieved fromhttp://www.italychronicles.com/effects-of-corruption-in-italy/
Terzi, A., (2015, May 27). Why fighting corruption in Italy matters for economic growth. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/05/why-fighting-corruption-in-italy-matters-for-economic-growth/
Terziev, AV., &Petkov, M. (2018). Corruption and national security. Retrieved from https://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=7
