ABSTRACT
Corruption is considered to be one of the biggest challenges currently facing the European Union (EU) and its society, after inequality and the rise of populism. The 2017 Eurobarometer is an indication that corruption is a systemic problem in Europe and, thus, collective effort is required to tackle the issue of corruption more effectively. The Commission issued its first Communication on the EU policy against corruption in 1997—the first EU policy document to focus primarily on the issue of corruption. The EU institutions were involved in corruption scandals themselves in late 1990s, which caused a halt in anti-corruption policy development at European level until 2003. The EU Commission implemented a series of measures aimed at improving the integrity and ethics among its staff and rules on how to report serious wrongdoings related to corruption. The Council of Europe developed an anti-corruption monitoring body known as the Group of States Against Corruption to monitor the performance of the 20 guiding principles.
