Austria slipped further in the corruption ranking
Austria has become a bit more corrupt again – at least that is what the international corruption index 2021 from Transparency International (TI) shows. Compared to 2021, Austria has lost another three points and has thus slipped into the top 20 – to 22nd place. Austria is only just ahead of countries such as the Seychelles, Taiwan or the United Arab Emirates. The situation is “worrying” for the organization.
Points are awarded, for example, for whether a government is successful in curbing corruption and whether corrupt officials are prosecuted or punished. Bribery and corruption, nepotism, misappropriation of public funds, the effective prosecution of corrupt public officials and efficient integrity mechanisms in the public sector are included under corruption.
This time Austria only received 71 out of 100 points. The trend of the “corruption perception index” is steadily downwards: in 2019 Austria still had 77 points. In 2021, 74 points were the worst result since 2014.
Like last year, Denmark remains in first place. New Zealand and Finland take second place “ex aequo”. Switzerland is seventh and Germany is ninth. Oman has lost the most this year, down eight points. The country ranks 69th. At the bottom of the ranking are South Sudan and Syria, each with 13 points, and Somalia with 12 points.
For Eva Geiblinger, CEO of TI-Austria, Austria is now being presented with the bill for the fact that political decision-makers have so far not tackled anti-corruption measures at all or only very hesitantly. “Scandals at the highest political level were used to make political ‘small change’.” The focus was only on the misconduct of individuals and criminal relevance.
The current ranking does not yet take into account the measures presented by the government in mid-January to curb corruption – and gaps in criminal law. In future, the purchase of a mandate will be a punishable offense. The same applies when politicians or civil servants run for a position and make promises in return for donations if they are chosen. There are also stricter rules for clubs with political contacts.