Transparency International says Greeks live in a state of "corrupt legality"
LONDON (TrustLaw) - Greek people live in a state of “corrupt legality” where the law often overlooks or even fosters corrupt practices, contributing to the current crisis, a report from an international anti-graft watchdog said on Wednesday.
While a soaring public debt and widespread tax evasion left Greece particularly susceptible to Europe’s financial crisis, endemic corruption has also played an important part, Transparency International (TI) Greece said.
“We all know about the debt crisis, but Greece is also suffering a crisis of values,” said Costas Bakouris, president of TI-Greece, at the launch of the National Integrity System (NIS) report.
“It has the right laws in place but does little to enforce them. The law is being violated, the illegal is being legalised, and the international commitments to fight corruption are being ignored. The laws are there, and institutions already have teeth – they just need to bite,” he added.
The report assesses Greece’s legal framework and its implementation in relation to 12 key anti-corruption institutions or “pillars”.
The report identifies the executive branch of government, the media and business as the three pillars most vulnerable to corruption in Greece, while the public ombudsman and elections are assessed as the strongest pillars.
MEDIA AT FAULT
The executive arm of government is criticised for being unaccountable to either parliament or the media, too ready to partake in patron-client relationships, and quick to bow to pressure from organised interests.
Greek media companies - many of them just one part of a larger conglomerate - have no qualms with applying political pressure to push the interests of one of their sister companies, the report said.
And the legal framework regarding the media is extremely blurred, leaving some media operators open to political pressure, the report added.
International standards of governance force companies listed on the Athens Stock Exchange to be relatively transparent, but privately owned companies are not, the report said.
The complexity of Greece’s tax and legal systems, its sprawling bureaucracy and changing laws on entrepreneurship combine to “create the ideal conditions for corruption” in private enterprise, the report said.
The report makes recommendations on how Greece could strengthen its anti-corruption pillars. The list includes stronger financial disclosure rules for political parties; laws that force private companies be more transparent; and the creation of a single anti-corruption agency.
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