Tackling corruption is not a priority in Belgium

That’s according to a report compiled by Transparency International and published in today’s edition of De Standaard. Belgium is listed in the lowest category together with countries that are doing "little or nothing" to tackle corruption.

The Transparency International poll involved experts from the 40 countries that signed the OECD convention against bribery and corruption. The research focused on the so-called "export of corruption", i.e. the bribing of Belgians officials or Captains of Industry abroad or vice versa.

Belgium obtained a poor score and was listed in the bottom category together with countires like Chile, Mexico, Russia, Japan and 15 other countries. One of the parameters used to compile the report, was the number of investigations that the judicial authorities started into corruption abroad. Transparency International only discovered one concrete case, of the billionnaire Patokh Chodiev who allegedly received slush money from Tractebel. An amicable agreement was reached 2 years ago to settle the dispute.

Transparency International had to admit that Belgium is not keeping good statistics about that type of "international bribery cases" though, which made it harder to collect the exact figures. The NGO also claims that the battle against corruption is not a priority in Belgian politics, pointing to the understaffed Central Bureau for the Fight against Corruption.

[Flandersnews.be / Expatica]