{"id":115312,"date":"2021-06-17T16:28:32","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T23:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=115312"},"modified":"2021-06-17T16:29:18","modified_gmt":"2021-06-17T23:29:18","slug":"coronavirus-pandemic-worsened-corruption-in-eu-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/06\/17\/coronavirus-pandemic-worsened-corruption-in-eu-survey\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus pandemic worsened corruption in EU: survey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy DW<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

A new survey by Transparency International has found that 29% of EU residents used well-connected friends or family to receive medical care during the pandemic. At least 6% of people paid bribes to access health care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"People<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The survey said 26.4% of respondents believed that corruption in Germany had increased over the past year<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coronavirus pandemic has worsened corruption<\/a> across the European Union, Transparency International said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its annual Global Corruption Barometer report for the EU<\/a>, the anti-graft watchdog called health care a “hotspot for corruption,” adding that graft is of “particular concern during the current COVID-19 pandemic, when citizens urgently need medical support and vaccinations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transparency International, headquartered in the German capital of Berlin, surveyed more than 40,000 people in the EU’s 27 member states between October and December 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey found that 29% of the bloc’s residents have used personal connections such as well-connected friends or family to receive medical attention and 6% of people paid an outright bribe to receive health care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bribery rates in health care were highest in Romania (22%) and Bulgaria (19%), while relying on personal connections occured most often in the Czech Republic (54%) and Portugal (46%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volume 90% Watch video<\/strong>05:29<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explained: Why German politics isn’t so transparent<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governments using crisis for ‘profit’<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Many respondents also believed that their governments weren’t handling the pandemic in a transparent way. In France, Poland and Spain, 60% of respondents or more said their governments acted in a non-transparent manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Lives can be lost when connected people get a COVID-19 vaccine or medical treatment before those with more urgent needs,” the report warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s crucial that governments across the EU redouble their efforts to ensure a fair and equitable recovery from the ongoing pandemic,” it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey singled out Hungary and Poland as countries using the pandemic as “an excuse to undermine democracy” by imposing measures that weaken democratic institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volume 90% Watch video<\/strong>02:59<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics of Orban government fight to be heard in Hungary<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politicians saw the health crisis “as a chance to make a profit,” the watchdog said, citing lobbying scandals<\/a> surrounding several German lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EU distrust in government<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the coronavirus pandemic, the survey found that a third of EU residents think corruption as a whole is worsening in their country, with almost half saying their government was doing a poor job at handling graft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respondents were particularly concerned about “cozy relationships” between governments and the private sector and tax cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing perception of corruption in Germany<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The survey found that in Germany, one in four people perceive that corruption is worsening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey said 26.4% of respondents believed that the level of corruption in Germany<\/a> had increased over the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over a third consider corruption within the federal German government to be a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report found 79.1% of respondents have basic trust in the German government. Respondents also had a high level of trust in the police and judiciary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, 61.6% have the perception that the German government is largely controlled by a few large interest groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than one in three suspected that all or most business leaders are involved in corruption, while 57.5% suspect that companies use money or connections to land public contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These are perceptual values,” said chairman of Transparency Germany Hartmut B\u00e4umer. They therefore do not reflect the actual extent of corruption problems in Germany, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/coronavirus-pandemic-worsened-corruption-in-eu-survey\/a-57895128<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy DW A new survey by Transparency International has found that 29% of EU residents used well-connected friends or family to receive medical care during the pandemic. At least 6% of people paid bribes to access health care. The survey said 26.4% of respondents believed that corruption in Germany had increased over the past year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corruption-and-bribery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}