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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. "
120 billion euro? Internets, you so funny.
To put things in perspective:
1. Estimates of just medicare/medicaid fraud in the US easily approach $100 billion. I'd bet those estimates are conservative.
2. Medicare/medicaid spending is only about a fifth of the US budget. (That doesn't necessarily mean that total US fraud is 5 times the above figure, but suggests it's much larger than $100B.).
3. The Eurozone's GDP is about equal to (slightly larger than) that of the US.
Put it all together, and tell me with a straight face that fraud in the Eurozone is 120 billion euro (about $160 billion). Keep in mind that for every Sweden there's an Italy.
Yeah, it's "probably" much higher, like the Broncos "probably" lost.
Russian here. I just had a laugh of the day, thanks )
Absence of proof != proof of absence.
...which is why those hardcore libertarians running Sweden are counted "among the countries with the least problems," right?
That is what happens when the EU keeps including all kinds of countries in south and eastern Europe that do not have their affairs in order. Where human rights are for those who can afford them and where government employees need the extra tidbits to make a living. And north western Europe pays the cost of it.
Hello? The least corrupt countries (Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg and Sweden) are the ones with the largest welfare systems.
tons of stuff that is called corruption over here is seen as harmless lobbying and such on the other side of the pond.
EU Commission: Corruption Across EU Costs €120 Billion
Swiss banking commission: Corruption Across EU Earns us interest on €100 Billion
The website was made by a company that was contracted under the bush administration to do general IT service work for the government. They did a piss poor job at substantial expense, to be sure, but it was not a no-bid contract - they were one of four eligible companies which bid on the contract for the website.
The no-bid and Michelle Obama nonsense is parroted by people who consume right wing news (propaganda) and mistakenly believe it to be true.
It all depends on how you measure corruption. The study seems to have measured how many Europeans have come into direct contact with corruption, i,e, offering or being offered a bribe. My country (the Netherlands) scores quite well on that score; no need to pay of anyone at city hall unless you want to get something done in real estate or construction. Bribery is so uncommon here that the vast majority of people never suspect that a bribe is asked for when their request is turned down. But below the surface, where most ordinary citizens don't venture, it exists. Some have compared the nature and level of corruption here to that of Japan.
The study does lighlight such factors, and as far as I know Sweden also has a lot less of this hidden corruption compared to NL. Not because they are a nanny state, but because of functional transparency laws. In the Netherlands, comparatively few people bother to check on their government, and when they do, they find transparency laws that are ranked amongst the worst in the world. Corrpution exists where it is profitable, undetected or unpunished. In that light, I shudder to think about what we can find in the EU offices themselves...
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
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.
I hear you guys call this "campaign contribution". Maybe that will help you find some figures -- I am told they are rather outlandish.
Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
BTW, in socialist countries, welfare is a kind of bribe, it keeps the poor masses living on those welfare payment in line, making sure they keep voting for the political parties who keep promising them the best short-term deal.
Because Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg and Sweden are well known for their "poor masses".
Watch this Heartland Institute video
Don't worry, the biggest difference is that corruption is legal in the US, while it's illegal in the EU. Apart from that detail, it's business as usual.
It's funny that it's the European Commission talking about corruption. All top-level politicians in Europe are in bed with the business world. They keep trying to pass corporate-friendly legislation and create new tax-evasion routes. Sometimes, it's so blatant that they have to retreat. Often, these legislations pass undetected. Politicians spend some time in public office acting as corporate moles. After that, they are given comfortable positions in corporations as a reward for their good services. This behaviour is publicly known and, honestly I can't see any way out of this shit. If someone tries to change anything, they'll come up with some "sexual scandal" to silence him. Just look at what happened to Hollande because of the tax raises on the rich.
Europe is fucked, just like the USA. The foxes took over the hen house.
Having a mistress is not a scandal. What people do in their private sexual lives is not my business. It's a shame that the American puritanism has managed to come across the pond and is being used as a political weapon here in Europe.
Maybe this is a strange concept for you Americans, but most Europeans don't give a fuck about politician's private lives. It's what they do at their work that matters. Anything else is just diversion used by the hidden powers for manipulation.