Malta in lower half of EU index

M Sciberras

Dec 2nd 2011, 11:47

I am no flag waving fool who cannot take criticism of his own country but I find this index utterly irrelevant. For example, it does not appear to take into account the very slow legal process in Malta and other related issues - that would actually impact negatively on Malta's ratings - but it does lend alot of weight to generic perceptions of corruption, which are often very different from reality. In other words whether there is fertile breeding ground for corruption does not appear to be objectively analysed. The results themselves range from the obvious (everybody knows many African countries are corrupt) to the peurile (what benefit is it a businessman whether Zimbabwe is less corrupt than Greece?) The hypothetical busnessman already knows that in both environments things are not necessarily going to be as straightforward as in Germany or Sweden. Finally it lends far more importance to certain countries. The ranking for France, a country that straddles the south and north of Europe is especially revealing. It can be argued that certain instances of corruption in France are not widespread but virtually institutionalised, as in the ease with which top civil servants and politicians, all graduates of the same school if not class (ENA) migrate between the top places in the public and private sectors. This single fact lends more than just perception to whether or nor corruption is widespread in France. sadly this index just provides cheap fodder for newspapers when it could be far more useful if properly compiled

Patrick Zammit

Dec 2nd 2011, 11:36

Lots of smoke but no fire...