Feed Corruption and transparency

Romania: ‘Becali finally pays for the greatest ever swindle of the state’

Gigi Becali, an MP for the ruling National Liberal Party and owner of the football club Steaua Bucarest, has been definitively found guilty by the […]

21 May 2013
374
Presseurop
România libera
Dalligate: ‘EC president sticks to decision on Dalli’

A spokesman for José Manuel Barroso has rejected allegations from two Green MEPs to the effect that the Commission President forced former health commissioner John […]

21 May 2013
23
Presseurop
The Times of Malta
Spain: ‘Banker jailed’

Miguel Blesa, the former chairman of Caja Madrid, the main savings bank in Spain’s largest nationalised banking operation, Bankia group, was taken into provisional custody […]

17 May 2013
2414
Presseurop
El Periódico de Catalunya
Italy: ‘6 years demanded for Berlusconi’

Milan prosecutors announced on May 13 that they are seeking a six year jail sentence and lifelong ban on holding public office for former prime […]

14 May 2013
32
Presseurop
Corriere della Sera
“Dalligate” : ‘We have a ‘bomb’ — Green MEPs’

At a press conference in Valletta on May 7, MEPs José Bové and Bart Staes presented a leaked report by the supervisory committee of the […]

8 May 2013
362
Presseurop
The Malta Independent
European Commission: From Dalligate to Olafgate?

It appears the corruption scandal that cost Maltese politician John Dalli his job as European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy is beginning to backfire […]

29 April 2013
391
Presseurop
The Times of Malta
Spain: ‘Royal household to publish expenses’

“For the first time in history,” reports the newspaper, the Spanish royal family’s accounts will be made public following the coming into force of new […]

24 April 2013
39
Presseurop
El País
Greece: Double trouble

23 April 2013
28 I Kathimerini Athens
Germany: ‘Steinbrück-Hoeneß 0:0’

Hoeneß has the ball, but then Bavaria fluffs a pass to Switzerland, and Steinbrück regains possession right in front of the posts. This […]

23 April 2013
366
Presseurop
Die Tageszeitung
France: The cabinet laid bare

France's 37 cabinet ministers were subjected to a true "strip-tease of the Republic" on April 15 when they, for the first time ever, made their […]

16 April 2013
28
Presseurop
Le Figaro, Libération, Die Tageszeitung
Romania: Incorruptible to the end

Rather than accept an honorary position, the former head of the anti-corruption office quit and is now denouncing politicians' meddling in the appointment of Romania’s judges – a practice that is slowing the country's entry into the Schengen area.

12 April 2013
18710 Revista 22 Bucharest
Corruption and transparency: European Parliament hamstrings Dalligate probe

The “Dalligate” scandal, which rocked the European Commission, may finally be laid to rest without the truth ever being known. The European Parliament (EP) has […]

12 April 2013
2562
Presseurop
Mediapart
Spain: ‘Her Highness charged’

The daughter of King Juan Carlos, Princess Cristina, was charged on April 3, by the judge investigating the Nóos corruption scandal, in which her husband, […]

4 April 2013
31
Presseurop
El Mundo
France: ‘Untenable’

Undermined by the confession of socialist former Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac, who has been charged with “money laundering the proceeds of tax fraud”, French President […]

4 April 2013
171
Presseurop
Aujourd'hui en France - Le Parisien
Czech Republic: ‘Godfathers’ black day’

“The North Bohemia regional ‘boss’ Alexandr Novák was arrested yesterday after he avoided a prison term [for corruption]. The very same day police brought criminal […]

3 April 2013

Presseurop
Mladá Fronta DNES
Spain: ‘Falciani makes surprise appearance in Gürtel case with another list of tax evaders’

Hervé Falciani, the IT specialist formerly employed by the Swiss branch of HSBC, has provided the Spanish government with a new list of Spanish citizens […]

25 March 2013
422
Presseurop
El País
France: ‘Cahuzac: Forced departure of a pillar of the Hollande apparatus’

On March 19, French Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac resigned in the wake of news that he was to be the subject of a judicial investigation […]

20 March 2013
1
Presseurop
Les Echos
Romania: ‘Adrian Năstase – free’

Having served nine months of a two-year sentence delivered when he was found guilty of corruption charges last summer, the former social democrat prime […]

19 March 2013
151
Presseurop
Jurnalul Naţional
Portrait: Andreas Georgiou learns the unwritten rules of Greek statistics

Greek statistics are now finally reliable, even according to Eurostat. However, the man largely responsible for a shake-up of working practices in the country is now facing charges of treason.

18 March 2013
11415 NRC Handelsblad Amsterdam
Spain: EU probes Valencian football funding

"Brussels investigates Spanish football," headlines El País, revealing that European Commission competition watchdogs are investigating three Valencia football teams – Valencia, Hércules and Elche – […]

8 March 2013
40
Presseurop
El País
Spain: ‘Corrupt Unió officials will go to prison as a warning to politicians’

Businessman Fidel Pallerols and two officials of the Unió Democrática political party (part of the regional coalition led by the CiU) have been found guilty […]

7 March 2013
55
Presseurop
El Mundo
Italy: ‘A suicide in MPS scandal’

David Rossi, the head of media relations at the Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank, which is currently being investigated over corruption allegations, apparently jumped […]

7 March 2013
22
Presseurop
Corriere della Sera
Greece: On your marks. Get set. Jail

5 March 2013
33 I Kathimerini Athens
Austria: Old dog teaching new political tricks

Austrian billionaire octogenarian Frank Stronach made a sensational debut into politics nine months ago by founding his own party. In the March 3 regional elections, the conservative Eurosceptic is counting on reaping the benefits of the corruption scandals shaking traditional parties.

1 March 2013
6348 Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich
Spain: ‘Pressed by scandals, Rajoy offers pact to fight corruption’

During his annual speech on the state of the nation, Spanish PM and People's Party leader Mariano Rajoy proposed legal and criminal reforms to tackle […]

21 February 2013
241
Presseurop
El País
Corruption: ‘Europe under scrutiny of Brussels prosecutors’

“[The problem] of theft from the EU money box has become so acute,” Europe needs an institution to protect its financial interests, reports the Warsaw […]

21 February 2013
923
Presseurop
Dziennik Gazeta Prawna
Spain: Economic doldrums and political crisis

The prime minister's annual state of the nation speech on February 20, coincides with one of the country's worst economic, social and institutional crises, which has left no one unscathed. Rotten with corruption, the political system is threatening to implode, putting an end to Spanish democracy.

20 February 2013
22925 El Periódico de Catalunya Barcelona
Germany: In the land of the well-behaved

Minor stumbles can lead to big falls in Germany. Ministers are tumbling like lemmings over scandals around plagiarised theses and invitations to travel abroad. What gets the Germans so worked up?

15 February 2013
35859 Der Spiegel Hamburg
Moldova: ‘Political crisis in Chișinău neglected in Bucharest. Alliance for European Integration no longer exists’

On February 14, Moldova’s Liberal-Democratic Prime Minister, Vlad Filat, announced that he would quit the Alliance for European Integration (the coalition in power since 2009), […]

15 February 2013
182
Presseurop
România libera
Italy: ‘Finance and scandals, the day of detentions’

After investigations started about ENI's and Finmeccanica's suspected bribes, other big names of Italian business fall under the prosecutors’ scrutiny, including the owner of Cagliari […]

15 February 2013
264
Presseurop
Corriere della Sera
Italy: ‘Finmeccanica, managers in shackles’

After Monte dei Paschi di Siena and ENI, another Italian economic heavyweight is rocked by a corruption scandal: Giuseppe Orsi, CEO of leading military contractor […]

13 February 2013
174
Presseurop
La Repubblica
Italy: ‘Algerian bribe, Scaroni under investigation’

Paolo Scaroni, CEO of Italy’s energy giant ENI, is now officially under investigation in the bribe scandal involving his company. ENI is accused of paying a […]

8 February 2013
23
Presseurop
La Repubblica
Corruption: First you get the power, then you get the money?

“Europe wants to investigate the relatives of politicians suspected of corruption,” headlines Diário de Notícias, as the European Commission unveiled a plan to fight money […]

6 February 2013
11310
Presseurop
Diário de Notícias, EUobserver.com, Expansión
Spain: ‘Treasury denies fiscal amnesty to Bárcenas and accuses him of ‘ruse’’

A tax declaration by former People’s Party (PP) treasurer Luis Bárcenas has been rejected by the Treasury, over claims he used front companies to launder […]

5 February 2013
19
Presseurop
El Mundo
Spain: Rebuilding public morality

Suspected of having received money from the slush funds of the People's Party, the prime minister has defended his integrity. But for El Pais, which published the "Bárcenas notes", his political future is a secondary issue. The big challenge is rebuilding the entire Spanish political system.

4 February 2013
2247 El País Madrid
Spain: ‘The PP demands expert analysis of the Bárcenas documents to prove they are fake’

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s People's Party (PP) wants to submit the original copies of the secret financial notes alleged to have been written by his […]

4 February 2013
20
Presseurop
La Razón
Spain: CorruPPtion

1 February 2013
268 Expresso Lisbon
Spain: Corruption weakens the state

"Gotcha," says Catalan daily El Periódico regarding several celebrities currently implicated in various corruption scandals. In the latest instalment on January 29, Carlos García Revenga, […]

30 January 2013
1072
Presseurop
El País, El Periódico de Catalunya
Romania: ‘State’s cold war against illicit fortunes’

It took the Romanian state four years to recover € 550 000 from two police officers who could not justify how they came by such […]

30 January 2013
211
Presseurop
România libera
Czech Republic: No amnesty for the corrupt

The amnesty decreed by outgoing President Václav Klaus on January 1 "is unconstitutional," says Czech financial daily Hospodářské noviny, commenting on a ruling by the […]

24 January 2013
544
Presseurop
Hospodářské Noviny, Respekt
Greece: ‘Hard rock with bum notes’

On Thursday night, at the conclusion of a debate marked by clashes between socialists and the far left, Greek MPs voted to create a parliamentary […]

18 January 2013
17
Presseurop
To Ethnos
Corruption: Austrian case renews call for EU prosecutor

Former Austrian interior minister and MEP Ernst Strasser’s jailing for four years for corruption should be “proclaimed the length and breadth of the European Union” […]

17 January 2013
1096
Presseurop
European Voice
Slovenia: Democracy or kleptocracy: What’s it to be?

The divorce between the political class and the Slovenian population is expanding at the same rate as the revelations about corruption. Now that the head of government himself has been caught up in the scandals, Slovenian society stands at a crossroads.

16 January 2013
1882 Delo Ljubljana
Greece: Lagarde List sparks inter-party feuding

“War over the list” headlines To Ethnos. Former finance minister, Giorgos Papakonstantinou, who is accused of excising the names of his close family from the […]

3 January 2013
765
Presseurop
To Ethnos, To Vima
Slovenia: The placid people’s revolt

In early December, thousands of demonstrators took to the the streets of Maribor to drive out the local mayor. What was the motive for the eruption of discontent in a city where people are usually so well behaved? The economic crisis and the impunity of the country’s political elite, a Slovenian journalist explains.

14 December 2012
54915 Jutarnji List Zagreb
Greece: Most corrupt in Europe: An unenviable accolade

The NGO Transparency International, on December 5, published its 2012 Corruption Perception Index, which measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide. Unsurprisingly, Finland […]

6 December 2012
7130
Presseurop
To Vima, The Guardian
Slovenia: Citizens take to the streets against corruption

The demonstrations are “coming in waves,” reports daily Večer. The protests against corruption and the austerity measures brought in by the conservative government of Janez […]

4 December 2012
1055
Presseurop
Večer, Delo, Dnevnik , Jutarnji List
Austria: A former MEP on trial for corruption

“In the crosshairs of justice”, headlines Kleine Zeitung. On November 26, Ernst Strasser, former MEP and former Austrian interior minister, went on trial for corruption. During […]

27 November 2012
3010
Presseurop
Kleine Zeitung, Die Presse
Croatia: Ivo Sanader — fall of an almost perfect leader

“You are a corrupt prime minister and a war profiteer”: quoting the judge presiding over his trial, Jutarnji List announces the conviction of Ivo Sanader, […]

21 November 2012
462
Presseurop
Jutarnji List, Die Presse
Justice: The crooked judges of Slovakia

Almost a year after the so-called “Gorilla” file lifted the lid on corruption in Slovakia, a new documentary reveals a Slovak judiciary controlled by a clique of unscrupulous judges ready to thwart those who resist them. Its director, Zuzana Piussi now faces up to two years in prison.

19 November 2012
2702 Respekt Prague

Poll

Is austerity the main cause of the recession?

1956

You say...

There is no "austerity". This is just propaganda of the states, which prefer to take on new debt rather than carry out structural reforms. No country in Europe has a balanced budget.

aditec on Is austerity the main cause of the recession?

I dare say that your "schism" would be not like Luther's, rather it would be like Thomas Müntzer's one. It is one thing not to like how the euro is working, but quite another to mix up misunderstood concepts which serve only to deepen the abyss that already exists.

El elogio de la locura on Europe needs its Martin Luther

These people certainly help to show huge loopholes in the EU system. Is the EU able to act? Laws must be tightened so that people cannot receive benefits in a country where they have never worked. And most of all there must be exemplary penalties against gang leaders.

preda on Immigrants tangled up with Turkish gangs