TI-Bulgaria presents the results of Transparency International global Corruption Perception Index for 2022 at press conference in Bulgarian News Agency.
Bulgaria score leaves the country in the bottom of the list from European countries and in 72nd place in the world ranking.
For the last 10 years the country score is between 41-44 points close to a stand-still and no progress in the fight against corruption. As one of the reasons to be at the bottom of the ranking compare to other EU countries is the ongoing political crisis in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is one of the three countries individually named in the 2022 report.
The main risks and problems facing Bulgaria:
The fragmentation of political parties that leads to an ongoing political crisis and governance of interim governments which are not subject to effective control and accountability.
The political corruption which leaves matter unresolved concerning the lobbying in the legislative process. The latest amendments to the electoral legislation increase the risk from manipulations in the upcoming parliamentary and local elections in 2023.
Lack of visible and effective actions for the implementation of the National Anti-corruption Strategy 2021-2027.
Bulgaria is one of the few countries in Central and Eastern Europe that have joined the European Union, which still do not have legislation for lobbying activities.
Most of the management and members of bodies of 18 independent regulatory institutions and commissions ( the parliamentary quota of Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria is not occupied, the Inspectorate of Supreme Judicial Council is not occupied, part of the governors of the Bulgarian National Bank, the mandate of the Commission on Protection of Competition and the Personal Data Protection Commission have lapsed, etc. ) have lapsed their mandate and that leads to a crisis of legitimacy and to a limited opportunities to implement their policies.
Political corruption has prevented free and fair parliamentary elections, with the latest round of legislative amendments increasing the likelihood of manipulation in the upcoming vote
Western Europe and EU:
With an average score of 66, Western Europe and EU is once again the top-scoring region in the CPI. However, progress has stagnated in more than half of countries for more than a decade.
Denmark (90), Finland (87) and Norway (84) score the highest. Several countries have recorded their lowest-ever scores, including Switzerland (82) and the Netherlands (80), both of which dropped two points since 2021.
The results for Bulgaria from CPI 2022 are available at Index section of TI-Bulgaria website.
More information about the global Corruption Perception Index will find on Transparency International website.