"Corruption affects all European Union members"

Source: AP, Tanjug

BRUSSELS -- EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom has warned that corruption in the EU undermines citizens' confidence in democratic institutions.

(Beta/AP, file)

In a report presented on Monday, she also said that corruption affects all 28 member countries and costs their economies around EUR 120 billion a year.
Malmstrom said in a statement that "corruption undermines citizens' confidence in democratic institutions and the result of law, it hurts the European economy and deprives states of much-needed tax revenue.

The report finds that EU member states have taken many steps in recent years to fight corruption, but that the results are uneven and that more needs to be done.

A Eurobarometer survey published today showed that more than three quarters of citizens in EU countries thought corruption was widespread, while in ten member-states, including Slovenia and Croatia, over 90 percent were of this opinion.

Only in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway less than half of those taking part in the poll said they knew someone who gave or received bribes.