Editors:
Dia Anagnostou and Evangelia Psychogiopoulou
Contributors:
Dia Anagnostou, Evangelia Psychogiopoulou (ELIEEP(ELIAMEP));
Mihály Fazekas (University of Cambridge, BCE) Alejandro Ferrando Gamir (BCE);
Andrea Wagner (SAR); Salvatore Sberna (EUI); Eva Nanopoulos (King’s College
London, University of Cambridge)
The ANTICORRP Project WP10 on “Monitoring anti-corruption legislation and enforcement in Europe” has the overall aim to study state compliance and implementation of international and European anti-corruption norms in the EU member states. It is specifically interested in exploring whether international and European norms have an independent influence in prompting EU member states to adopt and implement effective anti-corruption laws, policies and practices domestically. While their research design and methodology are different, the three studies that are contained in this deliverable explore this broader issue by focusing on three areas of law and policy: (a) political financing, (b) public procurement, and (c) the confiscation and recovery of proceeds of corruption. These three studies are based on primary empirical research and extensive data collection across all the EU-28.
The empirical finding of these three studies provide a solid empirical basis for identifying patterns of variation of state compliance and implementation, whether cross-national, in each of the three issue and policy areas. They shall also enable us in the subsequent, comparative phase of the WP10 research to explore the factors that account for significant variation across sectors or states. In this regard, these studies conducted in the frame of the second phase of WP10 contribute to filling an important gap in existing academic and policy-relevant research: there is a dearth of studies that systematically examine whether and the extent to which international anti-corruption legislation influences state laws and policies, and whether governments comply with the respective norms. We also lack comparative studies that investigate the factors and conditions under which states comply and implement international norms and rules designed to fight against corruption. WP10 seeks to contribute to the broader and flourishing area of anti-corruption studies. It draws from, but also in turn contributes to, international relations and comparative politics scholarship about the effects of international law on domestic politics and policies more broadly.
Alongside academic scholarship, the WP10 research also seeks to inform important policy questions and debates. A central issue that is debated among scholars and non-scholars alike is whether the proliferation of international regulatory activities actually has any positive influence on the extent and ways in which states seek to mitigate corruption, and whether, as a result, resources and energies must be channeled towards strengthening corruption control. Many either assume or explicitly argue that international anti-corruption norms that promote the creation or strengthening of national legal and regulatory frames make a positive contribution in tackling state-level corruption – at least to some degree. However, not few are those who question any direct positive impact, claiming that international regulatory norms have little actual effects in the domestic regulatory efforts to curb corruption. Some even argue that anti-corruption norms and regulations may actually create more problems and incur costs, instead of having any positive benefits in effectively reducing state corruption.
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