Compared to 2021, Austria has lost nine places and has slipped out of the top 20 – to 22nd place. Austria is only just ahead of countries such as the Seychelles, Taiwan or the United Arab Emirates.

Bettina Knötzl, President of the Advisory Board of Transparency International, sees this ranking as a “very big warning signal that something needs to change.” They complain that statutory anti-corruption measures such as the Freedom of Information Act or an independent public prosecutor’s office are simply not being implemented.

Countries at the top of the rankings, such as Denmark or New Zealand, have completely different legal frameworks, says Knötzl: “I have a right to information there.” So you can easily view tenders or public contracts – unthinkable in Austria.

71 out of 100 points achieved

Points are awarded, for example, according to 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 effective 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.

Somalia in last place

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.

Corruption: image damage

Knötzl sees corruption as a massive damage to the image of the entire country: “It’s a shame that we have to struggle with the image of ‘friendship and job chasing’ abroad.” Only recently did the federal government introduce a tightening of the criminal law on corruption.

This should effectively combat corruption. 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. These measures are not included in the current ranking because they have not yet come into force.

However, this measure does not go far enough for the NEOS. The official club chairman, Nikolaus Scherak, said in the PULS 24 interview: “Everything that happened in Ibiza is still possible. So it doesn’t surprise me that we keep falling in the corruption rankings.” They are calling for an independent federal prosecutor and the much-discussed Freedom of Information Act.

opposition reaction

SPÖ justice spokeswoman Selma Yildirim was “unsurprised” about Austria’s repeated loss of place in the ranking, because the federal government was “doing nothing perceptible to combat corruption”. So the last change in the criminal law on corruption is welcome, but only a measure that is far too small, probably Yildrim in a broadcast.

For FPÖ General Secretary Christian Hafenecker, “the morally completely depraved behavior of the ÖVP” brought the crash in the corruption ranking. In a broadcast, he referred to the ruling party’s “almost endless list” of corruption scandals. The low point has not yet been reached and there is therefore no improvement in sight, “as long as the ÖVP can continue to work on the government bench,” said the Freedom Party.

ÖVP and the Greens are composed

The government factions also have their say. The justice spokeswoman for the Greens, Agnes Prammer, said that Austria’s performance was predictable. Measures in the area of ​​anti-corruption then only have an effect on the index after a certain period of time. And Andreas Hanger from the ÖVP also said: “The tightening of anti-corruption criminal law, which the federal government initiated at the beginning of the year, has probably not yet been taken into account in the corruption perception index.”

Awarding of the “Golden Lubricating Oil”

In line with the publication of the ranking, the Clean Hands initiative announced on Tuesday that it would be carrying the government’s “Golden Lubricant” for “special achievements in lubricating political operations” this year. The coalition of the ÖVP and the Greens has repeatedly promised to take decisive action against corruption, but is still seen as increasingly corrupt.

Scandal used for “political small change”.

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.