Political parties have the lowest transparency, accountability and integrity mechanisms, report finds
LONDON (TrustLaw) – Weak transparency and accountability in institutions means corruption can proliferate in every sector in Italy, highlighting the need for an independent watchdog to hold institutions to account, Transparency International (TI) Italy has said.
Political parties had the lowest transparency, accountability and integrity mechanisms, the report found, while the public sector, the media and the anti-corruption agency were the worst performing institutions in terms of integrity, TI’s report released on Friday showed.
TI’s National Integrity System report, a survey assessing the effectiveness of Italy’s politics, public service, businesses and media in the fight against corruption, also called for a code of conduct for MPs and an end to their immunity from prosecution.
“Without an anti-corruption law, watchdog, and code of conduct, Italy is behind other countries when it comes to fighting corruption,” Maria Teresa Brassiolo, head of TI Italy, said in a statement.
TI Italy said scarce integrity was also partly responsible for the country’s economic crisis, with 55 percent of Italy’s GDP (€800 billion in 2009) managed by the public sector, which the report deemed one of the least transparent and accountable sectors.
Complex and imprecise laws, poor access to information and weakness in systems evaluating governance are making it easy for institutions to circumvent integrity mechanisms, the report said.
Eighty-nine percent of Italians think sanctions for corruption are currently too weak, according to a recent survey by the European Union.
Coming 69th out of 183 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures perceptions of public sector corruption, Italy is one of the worst-ranking EU countries.
(Editing by Rebekah Curtis)
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