During the presentation of the European Commission´s corruption report on 3 February, the Commissioner Malmstroem stated that the extent of corruption in the EU is “breathtaking” and costs every year at least a year´s budget of the Union, that is €120 billion. The long-awaited complex report by the Commission has a general chapter and 28 country-specific chapters and is based on a relatively deep analysis of legislation and practice in the Member States, as well as on two Eurobarometer surveys. Based on the report, the Commission concludes, corruption remains to be a huge challenge for the EU. More than three quarters of Europeans regard corruption as widespread and more than half of them think that the situation has deteriorated in the recent years. Furthermore, one in twelve has personal experience with corruption in the past year. The highest risk of corruption remains to be in public procurement, which is responsible for 20% of EU´s combined GDP. Generally speaking, regional and local levels in Member States are more vulnerable to corruption. Effective prosecution of corruption cases remains a challenge, together with transparent financing of political parties. Transparency and public control were also mentioned by the Commissioner Malmstroem, who put Sweden forward as example of Member State utilizing this effective anti-corruption tool.

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