Romania ranks, for the third consecutive year, among the EU countries with the weakest results in combating corruption, achieving a score of 46 points out of a possible 100, equal to that of Malta, according to the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released by Transparency International on Tuesday.The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean)."Global corruption levels remain alarmingly high, with efforts to reduce them faltering," reads a Transparency International press release."Against a backdrop of record-breaking global warming and extreme weather events, erosion of democracy and a decline in global climate leadership, the world has its back against the ropes in its fight against the climate crisis," Transparency International warns.The European Union has the highest scores in the CPI ranking, nonetheless the EU average is 62 points, two points lower than the previous years.The highest-scoring countries in the region are Denmark (90), Finland (88) and Luxembourg (81).Romania scores 46 points out of 100, same as Malta, and among EU countries with the weakest results in terms of corruption combat.At the EU level, the largest decline in the CPI ranking over the last year is seen in Germany (75 points, minus 3 points compared to 2023), Austria and France (67 points, minus 4 points compared to 2023), Slovakia (49 points, minus 5 points compared to 2023), and Malta (46 points, minus 5 points compared to 2023).Although it is one of the few countries in the European Union that has maintained a stable score in the CPI ranking, Romania remains well below the EU average. According to Transparency International's methodology, scores below 50 points are considered unacceptably low.Recommendations for Romania include implementing the integrity agreements as means to monitor public procurement; improving citizens' awareness in terms of law breeches reporting in areas such as public procurement, money laundering prevention, climate protection, public health; updating legislation in the area of public integrity; adopting a government programme to fight corruption leading to a better score of at least 50 points by 2027; non-formal and informal education for pupils and students on basic notions of democratic principles, individual rights, ethics and integration in the society. (Photo:https://www.transparency.org/)
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