The EU anti-corruption challenge
There is no commonly agreed definition of corruption. In broad terms it means the mis-use of bestowed power or position to acquire personal gain. Different forms of corruption include political corruption, mismanagement of public funds, fraud, bribery, embezzlement, activities committed by organised criminal groups as well as small-scale petty corruption. Yet, in spite of the absence of a definition everybody seems to know what corruption is and how bad it is for society.
In this paper, CEIPA reviews the European Commission’s EU Anti-Corruption report, issued in 2014 to stimulate “a discussion on how to assist the anti-corruption action and identifying ways in which the EU dimension can help”. The report, the first of its kind, shall serve as a basis for a major international event CEIPA is to organise in 2016.