Madrid (EFE).- The degree of perception of corruption in Spain has worsened again for the second consecutive year, falling one point compared to 2021, according to the report prepared annually by the NGO Transparency International to measure government practices.
Specifically, it obtains 60 points out of 100, ranks 35th among the 180 countries that are part of this world ranking, along with Botswana, Cape Verde and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and remains 14th among the 27 member states of the EU, two points below Portugal and Lithuania (62/100).
The NGO, which has published its report on Tuesday, points out that a difference of one point from one year to the next is not “statistically significant”, but warns that a fall for the second consecutive year is a “clear sign of risk and danger to keep going down.”
Transparency International considers that this shows that in Spain a level of factors that affect the functioning of democratic institutions and, therefore, increase the “risk of corruption” “remains latent”.
In this sense, he explains that Spain has been affected in the parameters measured in the ‘Global Risks Report 2022’, of the World Economic Forum (WEF-GRR), because it has given it a worse score in the category of irregular payments in public services , exports and imports and judicial decisions in cases of corruption.
On the other hand, it draws attention to the fact that, despite the fact that Spain has the Code of Conduct for the Cortes Generales, more than half of parliamentarians do not publish their institutional agendas and those that are published “contain absolutely unequal information ».
It also highlights the lack of transparency in the meetings they hold, all aspects that, as a whole, affect “Spain’s ability to continue advancing in anti-corruption matters,” he adds.
The president of Transparency International Spain, Silvina Bacigalupo, attributes the worsening by one point in the corruption ranking to the “delays” to carry out necessary legal reforms and that have taken their toll on our country.
For this reason, it calls on Parliament not to delay any further in carrying out the laws aimed at preventing corruption, and to reinforce transparency and accountability.
Highlights at European level
With an average score of 66 out of 100, Western Europe and the European Union is once again the best valued region in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
However, it also claims that progress and improvements have been stagnant in most countries for more than a decade. Of the 31 countries in the region, only six have improved their score, while seven have worsened it.
The countries that lead the best practices are Denmark (90/100), Finland (87/100), Norway (84/100), Iceland (74/100) and Sweden (83/100) and those that have obtained the worst results are Romania (46/100), Bulgaria (43/100) and Hungary (42/100).
The report also highlights that ten countries have registered the lowest score in their history, including the United Kingdom (73/100), which is down five points since last year.