Anti-Corruption Chief Says Greek Laws Condone Graft

ATHENS – One of Greece’s biggest problems – corruption – not only isn’t getting better but is actually being promoted by laws supposed to prevent it, the head of the Greek office of Transparency International said. “In some cases, the laws actually condone graft,” Costas Bakouris said in an interview with Skai television. That followed a study by the agency which found the country’s judiciary, the media and the business world to be the most susceptible to corruption.
The study, which evaluated 13 institutions, found that the electoral system was among the most transparent while the Ombudsman, who hears complaints from Greek citizens, was the most reliable institution. The report also urged Greek authorities to improve rules on disclosing the funding of political parties and to introduce laws that oblige private firms to be more transparent.
Greece was ranked 80th out of 183 countries in the group’s 2011 corruption perceptions index, below countries such as Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Cuba. Bulgaria was the only nation to rank lower in the European Union and Western Europe section, putting Greece even below Italy, where the Mafia and underworld have their fingers in many government operations and business.
Bakouris, said the problem did not lie in Greece’s laws but in their abuse. “In theory Greece appears to be doing fine,” he said. “In reality though, laws are violated and those breaking the law are legitimized,” Bakouris said, noting that Greece is suffering a “crisis of values” in parallel to its debt crisis. Greece’s inability to tackle corruption in both the public and private sectors also threatens to undermine efforts to turn around its economy – but the crisis is also an opportunity to rebuild national institutions and values, the anti-corruption group said.
The campaign group’s Athens branch said that many people in government, the civil servants and business “not only fail to stop corruption by actively participate it.” It follows the publication of a European Union survey last month, which showed that 98 percent of Greeks believe corruption is a problem in their country and 88 percent consider it part of the culture of business. “We all know about the debt crisis, but Greece is also suffering a crisis of values,” Bakouris added. “It has the right laws in place but does little to enforce them. The law is being violated, the illegal is being legalized, and the international commitments to fight corruption are being ignored. The laws are there, and the institutions already have teeth – they just need bite.”
It’s routine in Greece, where tax evasion is also rampant, for civil servants, doctors, lawyers, driving instructors, tax inspectors and in many other sectors, for bribes to be solicited to facilitate paperwork, get licenses, zoning approvals, land deals, land jobs, get better service or pay off other government officials and workers.The report said that among the laws condoning corruption is a new one that allows buildings constructed unlawfully to be approved, if big fees are paid. In some cases, bribes had already been paid to allow their construction. Other problems areas where the government policies perpetuate graft, the group said, were  the authorization of accounts not seen by a tax inspector, and the use of special accounts by government ministries that are not subject to normal transparency rules, kind of semi-official slush funds that are unaccountable.
Institutional reform to end impunity for corruption in government and business is essential, according to the group. It advocated a range of measures including merging Greece’s anti-corruption authorities into a single entity. Bakouris said the crisis was a “unique opportunity to redefine lost values and re-establish national institutions.” He added: “Greece urgently needs the emergence of leaders in government institutions who champion and lead the fight against corruption. Strong political will and citizens’ engagement is necessary.”
Such is the level of mistrust about Greece, which is surviving on a series of $152 billion in bailout loans from international lenders to prevent default and correct generations of political parties hiring hundred of thousands of unneeded workers in return for votes, that European Union leaders have floated the idea of a special EU Budget Czar to oversee the country’s spending, a notion rejected by interim Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, who is overseeing a hybrid goverment of PASOK Socialists and their bitter rival New Democracy conservatives who were responsible for creating the crisis they’re now trying to solve.
(Sources: Kathimerini, Public Service Europe, Wall Street Journal)