Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Corruption Costs European Union $162 Billion Each Year

BRUSSELS (AP) — An EU report says corruption affects all 28 member countries of the European Union and costs their economies around 120 billion euros ($162.19 billion) a year.

The report, the EU's first on corruption, was issued Monday by European Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom.

The report, summarized in a news release before publication, finds that EU member states have taken many steps in recent years to fight corruption, but that the results are uneven and that more needs to be done.

Malmstrom said in a statement that "Corruption undermines citizens' confidence in democratic institutions and the result of law, it hurts the European economy and deprives states of much-needed tax revenue.

"Member states have done a lot in recent years to fight corruption, but today's report shows that it is far from enough."

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com/
Author: AP
Topics: ,

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