Greater information sharing, trust, cooperation, and enforcement are the keys for the EU in its fight against corruption, according to a speech given Tuesday by Cecelia Malmström, the European Union Commissioner for Home Affairs,

Malmström spoke about the dangers of corruption in the EU and the importance of tackling it while speaking to a group of anti-corruption experts at the Second Regional Workshop on the EU Anti-Corruption Report in Gothemburg, Sweden.

Malmström said that the sheer cost of corruption deserved the EU’s attention. “The Commission's best estimate is that 120 billion euros  [over $156 billion] are lost each year to corruption,” Malmström said. The figure nearly equals the entire 2012 EU budget of 129 billion euros. The Commissioner did not elaborate on the methodology used to reach that estimate.

Malmström laid out the structure of the EU Anti-Corruption Report, set to be published for the first time in 2013 and biennially thereafter. The report will cover trends in corruption within the EU, specific issues for individual EU members, and includes a section on anti-corruption policies, according to Malmström.

She stressed that the Anti-Corruption Report could play a key role in improving the EU’s image, on multiple levels. A transparent report would help win back public trust. Globally, the EU could benefit from “looking thoroughly at problems at home instead of just pointing fingers at others,” Malmström said, adding that the report could also help to counter distrust between member states and fight instability.

https://reportingproject.net/occrp/index.php/en/ccwatch/cc-watch-briefs/1868-eu-commissioner-corruption-costs-equivalent-of-annual-budget