The 8th Circle

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[Update 6 July '08]:  Corruption in Romania video report (7:25m) by Journeyman Pictures.

The Economist has ran another piece on corruption, second in a little bit more than a month (good for them). This time, rather than looking at Eastern European corruption at large, it chose to focus on Romania as a single case in an article plainly titled Corruption in Romania.

For parts of its content, the article relies on a report by Willem de Pauw, a Belgian prosecutor to flash out corupţie in Romania; the report is available in pdf format here. The never-published-until-the-economist-picked-it-up report contrasts with conclusions of a similar document by the European Union.

Unlike the EU report, de Pauw concludes that “instead of progress in the fight against high-level corruption, Romania is regressing on all fronts.”

Less encouraging - because it supports the conclusions of Hammarberg’s report - is the observation about the state of Romanian justice system:

The Romanian judiciary and/or legal system appears…unable to function properly when it comes to applying the rule of law against high-level corruption.

Intriguing is the next statement:

Indeed, more than five years after the start of Romania’s anti-corruption drive, the public is still waiting for one single case of high-level corruption to reach a verdict.

This is a similar problem experienced by Estonia, which was recently criticized for not having prosecuted a single case of international bribery in the past two years (2006, 2007). While not the same, the comparison must sting for Estonians whose country is relatively highly rated on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Estonia’s CPI score is over 6, in comparison to Romania’s CPI of over 3 (note: 10=lowest perceived corruption).

Two observations are made by The Economist, that…

1. The EU relied too much on individual politicians to back Romania’s anti-corruption drive
2. [There is] intense resistance of practically the whole political class of Romania against the anti-corruption effort

Given this, what can the European Union and reformers in Bucharest do better to decrease corruption levels in Romania?

For one, Brussels should avoid placing all its eggs in one basket as it did with the former justice minister Monica Macovei - who was conveniently dismissed from the government after Romania acceded in 2007. And second, if the whole political class (or a vast majority) is resisting anticorruption efforts, then the EU ought to create encourage vested domestic constituencies that could aid in its push for a more accountable and transparent society.

One such constituency that could clearly benefit from less corruption are small businesses owners, who are typically less “connected” than major corporations, and who are very interested in protecting their property and profits from corrupt public officials.

Most importantly the EU should not forget that it wields a powerful tool in the EU funds, a carrot-turn-stick

It should be generous in disbursing grants funded by the EU taxpayers, but just as much it ought not hesitate to withdraw funding if the recepient party fails on its commitments.