Corruption deepens inequalities, erodes citizens’ trust in public institutions, undermines good governance and social justice, and constitutes a serious threat to the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights. In addition, it adversely affects government objectives that focus on diminishing income disparity and improving environmental protection. Corruption has serious and widespread consequences including slowing prosperity and economic growth by creating uncertainty for business, slowing processes and imposing additional costs. It harms the European Union (EU) as a whole by lowering investment levels, hampering the fair operation of the Internal Market and reducing public finances. The EU Rule of Law Report, published in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 demonstrates that the nature and scope of corruption varies between countries, and the effectiveness of anti-corruption policies is quite different across the Union. The EU Rule of Law Report serves as the basis for dialogue with national authorities and parliaments while also informing broader debates across Europe. Together with the anti-corruption experience-sharing programme launched by the Commission in 2015, these efforts have encouraged national authorities to better implement laws and policies against corruption.
The Commission’s anti-corruption efforts are centred around the following main pillars:
▪ mainstreaming anti-corruption provisions in EU horizontal and sectorial legislation and policy
▪ monitoring the efforts of EU Member States in preventing and fighting corruption
▪ supporting the implementation of anti-corruption measures at national level through funding, technical assistance and experience-sharing
▪ improving the quantitative evidence base for anticorruption policy
▪ promoting the fight against corruption globally
This Eurobarometer survey is designed to explore the level of corruption perceived and experienced by European citizens. It was first conducted in 2005, and has been repeated in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, and 2022.
This survey covers the following areas:
▪ General perceptions of corruption including acceptability, its extent and the perceived changes in incidence in recent years.
▪ Detailed attitudes to corruption in public institutions and business, and the effectiveness of government, the judicial system and institutions in tackling corruption.
▪ Personal experience of bribery, and the incidence of corruption in contact with institutions.
▪ Whether corruption was reported, awareness of where to report corruption and the level of trust in various authorities to deal with it. Reasons for not reporting corruption are also considered.
▪ Bribery and corruption in the healthcare sector.
The results have been analysed at EU level (including all 27 EU Member States), by country, and by socio-demographic category. The questionnaire used in the current survey is based on the survey first implemented in the 2013 Special Eurobarometer survey. Current results have been compared with those from 2022, and where relevant with earlier surveys. In 2019, the United Kingdom was part of the EU and therefore any EU average referenced from that period or before included the UK at that time.
See the survey here.
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