Fight against corruption, Italy is improving but the perception of the phenomenon remains high – WWN

In the fight against corruption, Italy has made progress in the last five years and yet its citizens consider it a country with a high risk of corruption, especially in the public sector. Transparency International has published the 2023 edition of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) to frame the distrust of Italians. Italy obtains a score of 56, placing it in 42nd place in the global ranking of the 180 countries analyzed. The index classifies countries based on the level of perceived corruption in the public sector with a score determined on a scale ranging from 0 (high level of perceived corruption) to 100 (low level of perceived corruption).

The primacy of Denmark

Denmark remains at the top with 90 points, followed by New Zealand with 87 points and Finland with 85 pointsi, followed by Norway with 84 and Singapore with 83. At the bottom of the ranking we find Somalia with 11 points, Venezuela, Syria and South Sudan with 13 points, and Yemen with 16 points. If Western Europe maintains the highest score (65), Sub-Saharan Africa (33 points) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (35 points) are the world areas with the lowest score.

Corruption in Italy

If we look at the EU, the analysis confirms Italy in 17th place among the 27 member countries of the European Union. Michele Calleri, president of Transparency International Italia, says: The consolidation of our country’s score in the CPI 2023 confirms Italy in the group of European countries most committed to transparency and the fight against corruption. A result that is also the result of the application of some measures regulations adopted regarding whistleblowing and public procurement. There is still much to be done according to analysts: think of the regulatory gaps with respect to conflict of interests in relations between public and private, the lack of regulation of the lobby system as well as the suspension of the register of beneficial owners to stem the phenomenon of ‘anti-money laundering.

The EU comparison

Progress is also needed in Europe. The CPI 2023 reveals how the efforts to fight corruption are at a standstill or declining in more than three-quarters of countries. Transparency International explains that since 2012, out of 31 countries evaluated, only 6, including Italy, have improved their score, while 8 have recorded a decrease. With an average score of 65 out of 100, Western Europe and the European Union remains the highest scoring region in the Index but the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures continues to be compromised by weakening systems of checks and balances on various powers.

The Anti-Corruption Directive is coming

In 2023, the European Commission proposed measures to strengthen the tools available to EU Member States to fight corruption. Among these, an Anti-Corruption Directive aimed at harmonizing the legal rules of all member states against corruption crimes, strengthening criminal sanctions and expanding the measures available to law enforcement agencies for such crimes. The proposal of the European Anti-Corruption Directive, which aims to provide all member states with common standards to combat the corruption phenomenon, is an opportunity to be seized to achieve concrete improvements in Italy too, adds Giovanni Colombo, director of Transparency International Italy.

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