Eurobarometer survey 2009 (European Commission) on the Attitudes of Europeans towards corruption reveals that European public opinion has become more negative since the last Eurobarometer survey in 2008, with higher level of agreement (78%) that corruption is a major problem in their country.

Key findings of the survey

– The majority of Europeans – 78% – agree that corruption is a major problem for their country. There is a large variation across Member States ranging from a high of 95% of respondents in Greece, to 22% of respondents in Denmark.

– There is widespread agreement across Europe that corruption exists in local (81%), regional (81%), national (83%) and EU institutions (76%).

– More than half of all respondents hold the opinion that there is widespread corruption amongst national politicians and amongst officials responsible for awarding public tenders and building permits.

– In general, public opinion has become more negative since the last survey in Autumn 2007, with higher levels of agreement that corruption is a problem for all levels of government, and across a range of professions including the police and customs services.

– Most Europeans agree that corruption has always existed and is inevitable, but only nine percent of Europeans have personally experienced corruption in the past 12 months. If they were to experience corruption personally, Europeans are most likely to trust the police, the courts or their national ombudsman to help them.

– Younger Europeans (15-24 year olds) are the most optimistic, with generally lower levels of agreement that corruption is a problem, and higher agreement that enough is being done to combat corruption.

– The close links between business and politics is the most common cause Europeans give for corruption, followed by insufficient action by governments to prevent corruption. In fact, most Europeans agree that tougher penalties and more successful prosecutions are needed to combat corruption.

– Almost one third of Europeans agree that the EU helps to reduce corruption in their country.

Europa.eu 2009