The 9 December marks the 12th International Anti-Corruption Day.
On this occasion Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos made the following statement:
“Corruption erodes public trust and damages the EU’s credibility while, at the same time, costing the economy around 120 billion euros per year. Across Member States, the effectiveness of anti-corruption policies can be quite different. So it is our duty to continue the fight against corruption. It is not power that corrupts people but people who corrupt power. Efforts must be stepped up, and the Commission will be there, pushing Member States to take further action. Transparency and good governance are the pillars of our democratic values and the essence of the European project.”
The Commission unveiled its first anti-corruption report on 3 February this year which showed that Member States have taken many initiatives in recent years. While results remain uneven, the Commission is convinced that more should be done to prevent and punish corruption. A second anti-corruption report will be published in 2016.
(European Commission – Daily News 9/12/2014)