09 Dec 2013

EU Needs Public Prosecutor to Fight Fraud

Establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is fully justified, says Professor Alina Mungiu-Pippidi

03 Dec 2013

EU Funds Curse? New evidence on the reciprocal impact between EU funds and corruption in CEE

Using a new quantitative indicator, this European paper finds EU Structural and Cohesion Funds impact grand corruption in Central and Eastern Europe. As much as 1/3 of EU funds given to public projects in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia are touched by corruption.

21 Nov 2013

Corruption in Universities, a Blueprint for Reform

This piece first appeared in the Time Higher Education supplement both online and in print.

06 Nov 2013

Who is Succeeding and Why?

ANTICORRP research workshop urges closer look at global anti-corruption achievers

28 Oct 2013

Civil Society, Young Generation Key to Fighting Corruption in Afghanistan

Head of Afghan Anti-Corruption Task Force Addresses Hertie Students

30 Sep 2013

Corruption and Development: New Insights from ANTICORRP Report

Recent ANTICORRP report assesses global and regional trends of control of corruption and development, and takes a closer look at the relationship between the two to identify the over- and underperformers in control of corruption.

13 Sep 2013

ANTICORRP Report Shows Regional Achievers in Control of Corruption

A global corruption trends report prepared by the ERCAS team for project ANTICORRP highlights best and worst performers on control of corruption across eight world regions.

02 Sep 2013

Transparency in Public Procurement Boosts Anti-Corruption Monitoring in Slovakia

Part of a series of case studies on the impact of transparency policies, a study on public procurement transparency in Slovakia reveals the potential of such initiatives in fostering civil society’s and media’s watchdog role against corruption.

29 Aug 2013

First ANTICORRP Policy Report Assesses Control of Corruption in Europe

The first volume of the Anticorruption Report series provides a comprehensive analysis of causes and consequences of corruption in three European regions, presenting corruption risks for several European countries and concrete policy recommendations on how to effectively address those risks.

14 Aug 2013

Report Takes Stock of Freedom of Information Protection Globally

In the past decades, awareness about freedom of information has been increasing rapidly, as has the number of countries that are taking concrete steps to include guarantees for this right in their legal frameworks. A recent study looks deeper at this movement to identify important achievements, challenges and the next steps for civil society in order to broaden even more the protection to the right to information

30 Jul 2013

ERCAS Director Emphasises Role of Public Spending in Controlling Corruption

In a presentation at an international Economics conference, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi highlighted recent findings from ERCAS’s research suggesting that there is more to the link between corruption and government spending than what traditional research has so far explored. An analysis based on the distinction between social and investment expenditure reveals that the true problem lies with discretionary spending, and this should be taken into account in the design of anti-corruption policies to reduce resources for corruption.

16 Jul 2013

“Clean Moldova” Replicates Initiative by Neighboring Alliance for Clean Romania

In cooperation and exchange with the Alliance for Clean Romania, the Clean Moldova coalition implements a promising initiative to promote more integrity among public officials and increased monitoring of politicians by voters, in another positive example of the replicability potential of such initiatives

04 Jul 2013

Bulgarians Continue to Protest against Corruption in the Government

What started three weeks ago as a protest against the appointment of a media mogul as head of the State Agency for National Security has now consolidated into a manifest rejection of the capture of politics by corporate interests and oligarchies

24 Jun 2013

Protests in Brazil Fuelled by Popular Discontent with Corruption and Bad Public Services

Two weeks ago, Brazilians took the streets to protest against an increase in public transportation fares and, in a matter of days, big masses have come together all over the country to voice much more profound concerns with corruption, political privileges, impunity, the low quality of health care and education and increasing criminality. Now their eyes are turned to politicians, waiting to see whether their cry will be heard

20 Jun 2013

Court Ruling Against NGOs in Egypt Raises Concerns about Role of Civil Society in New Regime

An Egyptian court sentencing of NGO workers and new legislation to regulate civil society organisations seem to reveal increasing efforts of the Egyptian government to constrain and control rather than foster civil society activity in the country

13 Jun 2013

Lessons Learned from the Recent Sentence of Soccer Tycoon George Becali in Romania

Recent convictions against Becali illustrate positive developments in Romania’s fight against corruption and reflect the strengthening of rule of law in the country. Nevertheless, his popularity and charisma still succeed in splitting the public opinion on whether the decisions were righteous or not

06 Jun 2013

Freedom of Information Law Amendment Restricts Access to Information in Hungary

Hungary has recently joined the Open Government Partnership, a step that was seen optimistically with regards to the government’s commitment to transparency, but recent moves by the Parliament to amend and restrict the scope of the country's Freedom of Information legislation raise serious concerns about a backlash in this process

23 May 2013

Global Integrity Innovation Fund Selects 5 Projects for Increased Transparency and Accountability

New innovation fund by Global Integrity offers individuals with brand-new approaches to promoting transparency and accountability an opportunity to implement and test their tools

21 May 2013

ANTICORRP 2nd General Meeting in Florence Discusses Project Developments

Researchers from ANTICORRP’s 21 consortium members met to present and discuss their activities and preliminary research results during the project’s first year, with the participation of leading scholars in the field that compose the project’s external Advisory Board. The next steps in the project and their expected contribution were also discussed

14 May 2013

ReStart Initiative Supports Innovative Projects in Eastern Europe

Since 2011, the ReStart Challenges initiative, organised by TechSoup Global, has been promoting competitions and selecting innovative projects based on the implementation of new technologies in fighting corruption and promoting transparency. The first edition took place in Romania and received applications on 145 project ideas, among which five projects were selected. Since then, other editions […]

07 May 2013

Online Initiatives Collect Reports of Bribery in Greece

New projects based on similar crowdsourcing platforms for bribe reporting are now being implemented in Greece, and seek to offer a clearer picture of where and how much bribery is actually taking place in citizens’ day-to-day life

02 May 2013

Russian Watchdog GOLOS Fined under Foreign Agents Law

Since it was signed in July 2012, the Russian law on foreign agents has raised much controversy. Its requirements that all organisations receiving funds from abroad register as foreign agents has been seen as a clear instrument to target and restrict the activities of civil society organisations and international donors in the country. The first concrete measures in this direction were seen already last September, when American development agency USAID was forced to leave the country. Earlier this year, several foreign NGOs have also been subject to raids in their offices. Now a fine imposed to independent election watchdog GOLOS indicates that the government’s actions based on this law continue to escalate

30 Apr 2013

SELDI Initiative Seeks to Strengthen Civil Society in Southeast Europe

The coalition aims to contribute to the wider civil society capacity to monitor, analyse and propose good governance and anti-corruption policy measures through the forming of a regional good governance and anti-corruption eco-system around the partnership coalition

25 Apr 2013

Corruption Watch Fosters Whistleblowing in South Africa

South African civil society organisation Corruption Watch has taken a main role in supporting whistleblowers, increasing the visibility of corruption cases, promoting freedom of information legislation and advocating for changes in legislation that increase corruption risks in the country

24 Apr 2013

Chilean Project Exposes Connections between Business and Politics

The platform Poderopedia offers journalists, researchers and interested citizens valuable information on the relationships between politicians, organisations and companies, helping them to identify cases of conflict of interest, favoritism and undue influence in Chilean politics