Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2016 is out. Italy is one place higher than it was in 2015. It was in 61st place and in the 2016 CPI, Italy is in 60th place. This means Italy is the third most corrupt European Union member nation.
The two EU nations that are an even more corrupt than Italy are Greece and Bulgaria.
On the face of it, it looks as Italy is as corrupt as ever despite having had an anti corruption government agency since late 2014. However, the scoring system used by Transparency International reveals that modest progress is being made. If you look at the score Transparency International bases its corruption perception index on, you’ll note that Italy’s score is, slowly rising. The higher the score, the lower the level of perceived corruption.
In 2012, Italy’s score was 42. This rose to 43 in 2013 and 2014, and then increased once more to 44 in 2015. In 2016, Italy’s score reached 47 – a three point rise. This is a sign, albeit a rather weak one, that Italy is beginning to make some headway in its attempts to combat this age-old problem.
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The trend shown in Transparency International’s reports may help attract foreign direct investment. In turn, this should generate jobs and more tax income for Italy’s government.
Italy could do more t0 make herself appetising to foreign investment, or even Italian investors. The nation’s justice system needs attention and Italy’s propensity for red tape also needs tackling. In view of Italy’s still fragile economic recovery, now would be a good time to act.
As mentioned in a recent article, there are also two reforms that could help beat corruption in Italy. If Italy were to implement them, then in next year’s Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, Italy’s score may rise above 50, even even higher.
The main obstacle to fighting corruption in Italy is that of political will. Only one political movement appears to be determined to work to battle corruption and it is not in power, yet.
Source: Italy – Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2016
