EU Commission: Corruption Across EU Costs €120 Billion

cold fjord writes with news that the EU has completed its first report on corruption in member states, and the results aren't looking too good. From the article: "'The extent of corruption in Europe is 'breathtaking' and it costs the EU economy at least 120bn euros (£99bn) annually, the European Commission says. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem has presented a full report on the problem. She said the true cost of corruption was 'probably much higher' than € 120bn. Three-quarters of Europeans surveyed for the Commission study said that corruption was widespread, and more than half said the level had increased. 'The extent of the problem in Europe is breathtaking, although Sweden is among the countries with the least problems,' Ms Malmstroem wrote in Sweden's Goeteborgs-Posten daily. The cost to the EU economy is equivalent to the bloc's annual budget. For the report the Commission studied corruption in all 28 EU member states. The Commission says it is the first time it has done such a survey. "

Comments

... meanwhile in USA ...

[Taco Cowboy]

We do not have "corruption commission" in the States, therefore we do not have any solid figure of how much corruption is costing the American taxpayers.

However, there are cases that are so notorious that they can't keep it secret any longer ... such as that obamacare website that cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions - a website assigned to a company without any open bidding, and the company just so happened (yeah, right) to belong to a university classmate of Michelle Obama.