Undue influence on both national and European Union politicians poses a risk to vital services, public safety and democracy, Transparency International reports.
During Viktor Orbán’s time as Hungary’s leader, the fortunes of two of his close associates increased significantly. Lőrinc Mészáros’s remarkable success in winning government contracts made him the richest man in Hungary. His business partner, László Szíjj, also raised his fortune in competition for these contracts.
Between 2018 and 2020, Szíjj won 10 per cent of Hungary’s public procurement, while Mészáros won 7 per cent, highlighting their significant impact on the country’s economy.
This is just one of many cases in Europe where businessmen with close ties to the government appear to be gaining an advantage. Even in countries with less corruption in the public sector, such as Estonia, large political donors win a significant share of public tenders.
Public officials also have serious conflicts of interest between their responsibilities to society and their own priorities. For instance, Axel Voss, a member of the European Parliament, earns up to 6,000 euros a month as a freelancer for companies dealing with data protection and artificial intelligence, topics he actively promotes in Parliament.
When political corruption occurs, it makes governments ineffective, deepens inequality and deprives people of their human rights. Corrupt politicians weaken checks and balances to consolidate their power and wealth while promoting the interests of the few at the expense of the majority. Corruption at the top also weakens control over many other types of corruption, from embezzlement to bribing low-level officials.
Once citizens see these abuses of power, they lose trust in political systems and stop voting or, worse, undermine elections by voting for dishonest politicians who use anti-corruption rhetoric to generate public discontent.
A key step towards protecting Europe from political corruption is to ensure that politicians are open about their activities. That is why Transparency International’s Integrity Watch 3.0 project collects and analyses data on politicians to identify weaknesses and suspicious activity.
Integrity Watch reveals many alarming facts about political finance across the region. In Italy, only a small number of political associations, foundations and committees believed to provide significant funding to political parties declare who their donors are.
Only nine did so in 2021 and eight in the 2022 election year. In Malta, the sources of almost 99 per cent of all donations to political parties between 2016 and 2019 remain undisclosed to the public. More than €13 million was donated anonymously.
Non-transparency about donations is still common in the EU: less than half of the countries in the Union publish key details such as the timing and amounts of donations or the names of donors. These hidden donors can even be organisations and individuals with illicit connections.
Another reason why most of Europe fails with political funding is that there are no limits on the amount of money each donor can give to politicians. At least twelve EU countries have no limits on the amount of money that can be donated during an election campaign.
Loopholes make existing restrictions ineffective in various countries. In Latvia, for instance, some donors circumvent restrictions by using intermediaries, such as family members, to make further donations. This shows how little these donors fear being caught, which makes sense since weak enforcement often renders these restriction rules ineffective.
A particularly serious problem is covert foreign funding of election campaigns, a tool that authoritarian regimes use to ensure the election of sympathetic politicians in order to undermine the EU and its states from within. Seven of the 27 member states still allow foreign donations to political parties and nine allow foreign funding of candidates. A complete prohibition on funding from outside the EU is urgently needed to protect electoral processes across the bloc.
In 2021, several MPs from Germany’s then ruling party received hundreds of thousands of euros in commissions for helping suppliers of protective masks win lucrative government contracts. Although two MPs resigned, others retained their positions, even after they were expelled by their parliamentary group.
It is particularly worrying that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are allowed to omit important details of their parallel activities. As of September 2022, 30 per cent of all declarations of interest published on the Parliament’s website lack the necessary information to identify conflicts of interest.
In addition, 12 per cent of all additional activity is accounted for by organisations registered as lobbyists for EU decision-makers. This means that almost one in eight part-time jobs is linked to organisations with an active interest in influencing EU policy.
Unregulated lobbying, which gives the rich or those with political connections unequal and secret access to politicians, leads to decisions that favour private interests at the expense of the public good.
In Europe, lobbying legislation is generally ineffective and rarely enforced. For example, in Slovenia, a rather strong lobbying law was not properly implemented due to factors such as insufficient funding for the anti-corruption commission.
The EU lobbyist register, with more than 12,000 organisations, is one of the largest in the world and requires all the necessary information from lobbyists. However, registration is mandatory only for the European Commission, which applies a simple rule not to hold meetings without prior registration.
Increasing people’s trust in decision-makers and minimising the risks of political corruption can only be achieved if there is transparency and effective prevention of conflicts of interest and undue influence.
For more effective oversight of illicit enrichment, the Anti-Corruption Directive, currently under discussion by the EU Council and the European Parliament, should provide open data on political integrity. Moreover, gaps in legislation and implementation in lobbying and political finance need to be closed.
Moreover, all EU member states should tighten their rules on disclosure and management of conflicts of interest in the public sector and among elected officials. All members of the bloc should ensure specific and periodic disclosure of assets, financial and non-financial interests, and any outside income, employment, membership or beneficial ownership in any type of legal entity.
Competent national and international bodies across the EU should be given the mandate and resources to audit, verify and publish all relevant data on political integrity, and should be empowered to monitor compliance with the rules and impose sanctions for breaches of the rules. The signing and ratification of the International Treaty on Data Exchange for the Verification of Asset Declarations should be part of such efforts.
