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Reichstag building in Berlin

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In a global comparison, Germany is still among the ten countries with the least corruption. This emerges from the “Corruption Perception Index 2023” published by the organization Transparency International. In the international ranking, which is based on assessments by managers, experts and institutions, the Federal Republic remains in ninth place.

With 78 out of 100 possible points, Germany achieved exactly the same value as ten years ago. This means that the fight against corruption is more or less stalling, complained the deputy chairwoman of Transparency Germany, Margareta Bause. "Although Germany has the problem of corruption relatively well under control, there are some open flanks."

Hungary is bottom of the EU

With the best score of 90 points, Denmark remains at the top, followed by Finland, New Zealand and Norway. However, two thirds of the 180 countries examined achieved less than 50 out of 100 points. At the bottom of the list are crisis states such as Syria, Venezuela and Somalia. “Where the rule of law, independent media and civil society groups are weakened, that is where corruption flourishes,” explained Transparency boss Alexandra Herzog, referring to Hungary: Under the leadership of Viktor Orbán, the country has slipped to 76th place. This means that Hungary is in a worse position than any other EU state.

However, Transparency also sees a need to catch up in Germany: For example, loopholes would have to be closed in order to be able to take better criminal action against cases of bribery of members of parliament. The SPD, Greens and FDP had already agreed in the coalition agreement to make the criminal offense of bribery and bribery of members of parliament more effective - but the implementation of this plan is a long time coming. In addition, Transparency calls for an improved lobby register that makes clear the specific influence of lobbyists on legislation.

The annual “Corruption Perceptions Index” brings together data and results from twelve independent institutions that specialize in the analysis of governance and economic climate. Sources include, among others, studies and surveys by the Bertelsmann Foundation, the African Development Bank and the World Economic Forum.

czl/dpa