Corruption and lack of transparency are endemic throughout the EU, with direct links to the economic crisis.
The damning conclusion of a major study by the Berlin-based NGO, Transparency International (TI), was put forward at a hearing in the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday (6 June).
"Europe by and large fails the test," said Corbus de Swardt, managing editor of TI.
In Greece and Portugal, corruption is so deeply ingrained it poses a direct threat to democrati...
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Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.