Volume 12 - Issue 71
/ November 2023
83
http:// www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.71.11.7
How to Cite:
Zlyvko, S., Puzyrnyi, V., Nishchymna, S., Tkachenko, O., & Samofalov, O. (2023). Administrative and legal methods of preventing
corruption among public authorities: the experience of EU countries. Amazonia Investiga, 12(71), 83-92.
https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2023.71.11.7
Administrative and legal methods of preventing corruption among
public authorities: the experience of EU countries
Адміністративно-правові методи запобігання корупції у діяльності публічної влади: досвід
країн ЄС
Received: October 7, 2023 Accepted: November 25, 2023
Written by:
Stanislav Zlyvko1
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2732-3144
Viacheslav Puzyrnyi2
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5692-2990
Svitlana Nishchymna3
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7424-7688
Oleksandr Tkachenko4
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5640-0906
Oleksandr Samofalov5
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9157-7435
Abstract
The study deals with the analysis of
administrative and legal methods used in EU
countries to fight corruption among public
authorities. Fighting corruption is critically
important for ensuring transparency and
accountability, good governance, and achieving
the effectiveness of management actions. The
aim of the article is to determine the effectiveness
of administrative and legal methods used in the
EU countries to fight corruption among public
authorities based on the implementation of the
good governance principles.
The research methodology provided for the use
of the methods of contextual analysis,
comparison, and graphic correlation. The study
outlined the necessary measures: improving
legislation on the status of public authorities, the
responsibility of public officials, introducing e-
governance models and the concept of good
1
Doctor of Sciences (Law), Professor, Department of Administrative, Civil and Commercial Law and Process, Academy of the State
Penitentiary Service, Chernihiv, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: ACU-0657-2022
2
Doctor of Sciences (Law), Vice Rector for Scientific and Academic Affairs, Academy of the State Penitentiary Service, Chernihiv,
Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: G-6332-2014
3
Doctor of Sciences (Law), Head of the Department of Administrative, Civil and Commercial Law and Process, Academy of the State
Penitentiary Service, Chernihiv, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: S-4182-2017
4
Ph.D. in Law, Head of the Department of Formation and Development of Professional Competences of the Personnel of the SCES
of Ukraine, Institute of Professional Development, Academy of the State Penitentiary Service, Chernihiv, Ukraine. WoS Researcher
ID: ISB-1138-2023
5
Ph.D. in Law, Associate Professor, Department of Administrative, Civil and Commercial Law and Process, Academy of the State
Penitentiary Service, Chernihiv, Ukraine. WoS Researcher ID: ABL-3548-2022
84
www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307
governance among public authorities of EU
member states. It was found that the application
of administrative and legal methods in the system
of public administration is not enough for the
implementation of anti-corruption policy,
because corruption in the EU goes beyond the
borders of one country and its law enforcement.
In view of the expanding manifestations of
corruption, implementation of effective
administrative and legal methods of fighting
corruption is an urgent task for public authorities
and leading EU institutions. The specified will
require a systemic approach, robust anti-
corruption institutions, and the establishment of
legal anti-corruption mechanisms.
Keywords: corruption, quality of government,
good governance, EU, prevention.
Introduction
Corruption poses a significant threat to the
stability, integrity, and democratic values of any
society. It undermines public trust, hinders
economic growth, and perpetuates social
inequality. According to Eurobarometer 2022
data, 68% of people and 62% of businesses in the
EU believe that corruption is widespread in their
country (European Union, 2022).
In the context of developing effective anti-
corruption strategies, EU the countries have
made significant efforts to create reliable
administrative and legal methods aimed at
fighting corruption among public authorities.
These approaches include preventive,
investigative, and punitive strategies designed to
minimize corrupt practices, bringing perpetrators
to justice, improving transparency and
accountability in the public sector.
Administrative and legal methods used in EU
countries are based on key initiatives such as the
creation of specialized anti-corruption bodies,
modernization and implementation of the legal
framework, promotion of transparency and
accountability through e-governance and good
governance tools, as well as international
cooperation in the fight against corruption. In the
first section of the study, readers will find a
literature review, while the second part focuses
on the methodology. The third section is
dedicated to the research findings, and the fourth
part involves a discussion of the results. In the
final section, the research conclusions are
summarized.
The aim of the article is to study and analyse the
effectiveness of administrative and legal methods
in the system of public administration bodies of
EU member states with the aim of countering
corruption based on the implementation of the
good governance principles and the results of the
impact of these methods on corruption.
The main research objectives include:
1. Analyse key initiatives, such as the creation
of anti-corruption bodies, implementation of
the legal framework, promotion of
transparency through e-governance tools;
2. Evaluate the effectiveness of approaches to
reducing the corruption rate based on the
implementation of administrative and legal
measures;
3. Provide recommendations on improving
anti-corruption strategies among public
authorities based on the experience of EU
countries.
Literature Review
Existing studies related to administrative and
legal methods of fighting corruption in the
activities of public authorities quite widely study
the relevant experience of EU countries, key
topics, offering possible approaches to solving
the specified issues. Corruption undermines
citizens' trust in public authorities, reduces
economic growth, hinders investment, and
creates political instability. Therefore, the
Zlyvko, S., Puzyrnyi, V., Nishchymna, S., Tkachenko, O., Samofalov, O. / Volume 12 - Issue 71: 83-92 / November, 2023
Volume 12 - Issue 71
/ November 2023
85
http:// www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307
problem of corruption remains the subject of
study by various researchers.
Measuring corruption manifestations, which are
inherently illegal activities actively concealed by
perpetrators, is a challenging task for researchers
(Armand et al., 2023). A significant number of
researchers prove the negative impact of
corruption on the economy, society, and the
environment (Kasa et al., 2023). So, it is believed
that the corruption rate can be reduced by
implementing democratic principles in the public
administration system, such as political
openness, a system of checks and balances,
honesty, effective supervision, accountability,
etc. (Gorsira et al., 2018). Specialized
independent anti-corruption institutions are key
to success in the fight against corruption
(Di Mascio et al., 2020). Expanding digitization
and effective e-governance systems should also
have the effect of reducing the overall corruption
rate in the country (Agarwal & Maiti, 2020).
Accordingly, the use of good governance, which
involves the implementation of the rule of law,
transparency, accountability and participation, is
one of the factors aimed at minimizing corruption
risks. It is important that e-governance
significantly contributes to the implementation of
the good governance principles (Castro & Lopes,
2022).
Numerous studies emphasize the importance of
creating a reliable administrative and legal
framework as an effective means of fighting
corruption among public authorities.
Considering the need to create specialized anti-
corruption agencies, one should understand their
place as an important component in this system.
The study (Johnston & Heidenheimer, 2017)
analysed the structures, powers and
independence of anti-corruption bodies,
including in the EU countries, tested numerous
anti-corruption tools and good governance
strategies, which provides insight into their
effectiveness in investigating and fighting
corruption crimes.
Transparency and accountability measures play
an important role in the fight against corruption
in public authorities. A study on promoting
transparency through e-government tools, open
data initiatives, and citizen engagement
concluded that the response must go beyond law
enforcement to include the reorganization of
government agencies and their relationships with
the private sector (Rose-Ackerman, 2018).
With the development of e-government, public
authorities have been transformed both
structurally and in terms of the dynamics of
relations between the state and the recipients. E-
government should be considered as an integral
and integrated aspect of the functioning of public
institutions and the provision of services. The
methodology implemented in the EGDI e-
Government Development Index is one of the
approaches that assesses e-government
development at the national level (United
Nations, 2022). E-government creates new
opportunities for change in public authorities and
integrated governance, providing public services
and information to stakeholders with greater
quality, accountability and efficiency, as well as
improving relations between social actors
(United Nations, 2020). The development of e-
government encompasses transformation at the
technical and organizational levels, that is, the
use of opportunities to modernize outdated
processes and reintegrate public authorities in
order to meet the needs of people in public
services through increased integrity, flexibility,
and adaptability (Mao et al., 2021).
The World Governance Indicators (WGI) are
among the indicators of the quality of public
administration, which rank countries according
to good governance aspects. These indicators are
determined according to the researchers’
understanding of the fundamental concepts of
management. These indicators were used in a
number of studies as variables to study possible
relationships between aspects of public
governance and growth, and they are also used to
monitor the quality of governance
(Gallego-Álvarez et al., 2021). Improving the
quality of public administration, independence of
public officials from political pressure, and
stopping corrupt practices can give tangible
results in increasing the economic efficiency of
public administration. Furthermore, strong
institutions can mitigate the adverse effects of
less transparent procedures and processes in
public authorities.
Methodology
The research design is based on the identification
of the main context of administrative and legal
methods of fighting corruption, which is
implemented in the legal acts, regulations of the
functioning of powerful EU anti-corruption
institutions. It is also based on determining the
correspondence between the quality of public
administration and the state of corruption and the
general progress of the corruption rate in the EU
countries during 10 years; analysis of obtained
data, providing propositions, and drawing
conclusions. Open data on individual indicators
86
www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307
of 27 EU member states were used as research
objects. The main legislative acts in the field of
anti-corruption policy in the EU were used
(European Union, 1997; 2012; 2023; European
Commission, 2023a; 2023b). The methods of
contextual analysis, correlation analysis, and
graphic comparison were used.
The first stage was a contextual analysis of the
current EU anti-corruption legislation and the
relevant changes through the data search on the
legislative framework of the European Union and
the European Commission on anti-corruption.
The next step was to find out the influence of the
public administration system on corruption
through correlation analysis (scattering
diagrams).
The indicator of the effectiveness of public
authorities of the World Governance Indicators
(WGI) (World Bank, 2023) was used as a factor
demonstrating the level of public administration
and the features of good governance. The
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is considered
a more appropriate measure for corruption
analysis (Qu et al., 2019). The Public Sector
Corruption Perceptions Index was developed as
an indicator used to measure the perception of
corruption ranging from 0 to 100 (Transparency
International, 2023a). A scatter (point) diagram)
was built for 27 EU member states using data on
indicators of efficiency of public authorities and
corruption by building a graphic model of the
dependence of the corruption indicator on the
efficiency of public authorities. The diagram was
built using Gretl software.
The E-Government Development Index (United
Nations, 2022) is used as an additional factor
(predictor), an indicator that can show the ability
to implement public administration, which is also
sufficiently relevant to the implementation of
good governance. A graphic analysis of the
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the E-
Government Development Index in EU countries
was conducted (Transparency International,
2023a; United Nations, 2022).
A mixed approach to the study made it possible
to comprehensively investigate the consequences
of administrative and legal methods of fighting
corruption. The quantitative component relied on
statistical data to measure performance, while the
qualitative component captured the specifics of
legislation, its changes, administrative
procedures and institutions. The integration of
the research results provided a comprehensive
analysis that allowed for a more in-depth study of
the issue and development of recommendations.
At the same time, it should be noted that the data
used in the study (World Bank, 2023;
Transparency International, 2023a; United
Nations, 2022) are formulated based on the
developers' own methodology for index creation,
which may not sufficiently objectively reflect the
state of affairs in the fields of public governance,
corruption, and e-governance. Additionally,
these indicators are based on existing data from
previous years, reflecting situations that occurred
in past periods.
Results
Determining the main aspects of administrative
and legal methods of fighting corruption in EU
legislative acts
Regarding the research objectives, special
attention is paid to the issues of effective
functioning of the public administration system
and the provision of public services with the
minimization of corruption risks. EU anti-
corruption approaches are based on a number of
general provisions. The Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
established the need to prevent and combat
criminal activity, including corruption, in the EU.
This requires the harmonization of current
legislation and the establishment of appropriate
sanctions. In general, the legal anti-corruption
framework must be provided both directly by the
EU and by the member states (European Union,
1997).
Administrative and legal forms of fighting
corruption provide for the establishment of
administrative regulations for the performance of
state functions and the provision of public
services. The goals of the adoption of
administrative regulations are to increase the
transparency of the activities of public
authorities, to exclude the possibility of
corruption-inducing factors. Anti-corruption
administrative and legal methods are based on
specific practical means (measures and methods)
of fighting corruption in the public
administration system used by authorities in the
EU. The tools of good governance provide for
anti-corruption monitoring, which includes the
analysis of corruption-inducing factors and anti-
corruption policy implementation measures.
Monitoring ensures detection and forecasting of
the development of negative processes affecting
the corruption rate in public authorities, as well
as correlation of action plans to fight corruption.
The analysis of corruption risks is related to the
identification and study of the possibility of the
occurrence of causes and conditions that
Volume 12 - Issue 71
/ November 2023
87
http:// www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307
contribute to the commission of corruption
offences in state administrative activities. The
indicated tools are approved by a number of
fundamental EU legal acts.
The Convention Against Corruption Involving
Public Officials of EU countries determined the
main approaches to the subject field of corrupt
acts, the measures and actions of member states
regarding officials who commit crimes,
punishments for corruption crimes, and issues of
jurisdiction and prosecution for committing
corruption crimes (European Union, 1997). The
institutional framework of the anti-corruption
system is determined by public authorities of EU
member states, which are entrusted with the anti-
corruption functions, the European Commission,
the European Parliament, and Eurojust. The said
authorities should ensure joint cooperation on the
exchange of information and experience in the
fight against corruption (European Union, 2008).
In 2022, the President of the European
Commission identified the need to modernize
anti-corruption legislation in order to improve
the fight against various forms of corruption in
the EU (von der Leyen, 2022). The modern
vision of the fight against corruption in the EU
should provide for the implementation of
additional administrative and legal methods,
namely: preventive measures based on the
stimulation of integrity and education; expanding
the basis of corruption crimes beyond the
classical understanding of criminal acts;
establishment of criminal punishment based on
the same approaches in EU member states;
extension of the statute of limitations for
corruption crimes; the availability of appropriate
tools for law enforcement agencies and the
prosecutor’s office regarding the possibility of
fighting corruption (European Union, 2023).
New approaches in anti-corruption policy
include the Directive of the European Parliament
and the Council (European Commission, 2023a),
which provides for a significant update of the
legislative framework on anti-corruption, which
includes updating tools, national law
enforcement, deepening cooperation between
member states, and introducing preventive and
repressive mechanisms, application of sanctions,
etc.
In a Joint Communication, the European
Commission proposes strengthening
accountability, transparency, detecting
corruption and punishing it, increasing the
efficiency of investigations, resolving conflicts
of interest, disclosing financial data, maintaining
anti-corruption provisions in all relevant sectoral
laws, cooperation and exchange of experience
(European Commission, 2023b).
Evaluation of the results of the implementation
of administrative and legal methods of public
administration in anti-corruption activities
The influence of the management activities of
public authorities on the implementation of
administrative and legal methods on the state of
corruption in the EU member states will be
analysed based on the considered number of
approaches to the prevention of corruption.
It was determined that the primary emphasis
should be placed on the use of the World
Governance Indicators (WGI) in the analysis,
where the indicator of the effectiveness of
governance by public authorities is one of the
components (World Bank, 2023). This involves
determining the capabilities of the country’s
public administration system (results of the use
of administrative, legal, organizational
management methods, models of good
governance by authorities). A scatter diagram
that demonstrates the relationship between the
corruption indicator and the e-government
development indicator (Figure 1) was obtained
using the data of two indicators that describe the
corruption component (CPI) and the state of
governance (WGI) for 27 EU member states. It
shows a certain correlation. The graphic model
was built using Gretl software.
88
www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307
Figure 1. The relationship between the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the effectiveness of
governance, 2022
Source: Transparency International (2023a), World Bank (2023)
As regards different models and approaches to
modern public administration, the approach with
the identification of the development factor of e-
governance is appropriate. It is closely related to
good governance, which is based on increasing
transparency, expanding communications with
society. The key vision is the study of the
potential of public authorities in the application
of information and communication technologies.
The state of e-government development at the
national level is demonstrated by the e-
Government Development Index (EGDI), which
is developed by the United Nations. The
development indicator ranges from 0 to 1 (United
Nations, 2022). A graphical model that
demonstrates the connection between the
Corruption Perceptions Index and the e-
Government Development Index will be built
using the data of two indicators (CPI, EGDI) for
27 EU member states (Figure 2). It demonstrates
only partial correlation.
Figure 2. Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and e-Government Development Index in EU countries
Source: Transparency International (2023a), United Nations (2022)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1
1,2
DNK
FIN
SWE
NLD
DEU
IRL
LUX
EST
BEL
FRA
AUT
LTU
PRT
ESP
LVA
CZE
SVN
ITA
POL
SVK
CYP
GRC
MLT
HRV
ROU
BGR
HUN
EGDI 2022 CPI 2022
Volume 12 - Issue 71
/ November 2023
89
http:// www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307
Further analysis of the obtained data (Figure 2)
proves that the e-government development only
partially improves anti-corruption activities.
Despite a fairly high level of e-government
development, such countries as Slovenia, Spain,
Cyprus, Malta, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and
some others have relatively low indicators of the
level of corruption perceptions.
The data for 2012 and 2022 will be compared to
identify the main trends in the change in
indicators of the Corruption Perceptions Index of
the EU countries (Figure 3). A significant
regression over the last decade in such countries
as Hungary, Cyprus, Malta, Poland, Spain,
Slovenia, etc. is noted. The data of Figure 3 show
that a decrease in the Corruption Perceptions
Index, for example, in the specified countries,
was determined by a number of unbalanced
approaches to the issues of the rule of law,
freedom of speech, and the effectiveness of the
implementation of administrative and legal
methods of preventing corruption.
Figure 3. Indicators of the Corruption Perceptions Index of EU countries in 2012 and 2022
Source: Transparency International (2023a)
In view of the rather significant approach to the
revision of administrative and legal methods in
the EU anti-corruption policy (European
Commission, 2023a; European Commission,
2023b), it should be recognized that a really
significant decrease in the Corruption
Perceptions Index in some EU countries
indicates insufficiently effective tools in the
public administration system. Some researchers
argue that, other things being equal, the high
level of the rule of law provides higher control
over corruption (Chong et al., 2020). Certain
areas of public administration, related to the
quality of legal education, gender balance in
politics and administration, delegation of powers,
freedom of speech, rule of law, good governance
principles, can effectively and quickly minimize
corruption manifestations.
Discussion
The study of administrative and legal methods of
preventing corruption among public authorities
demonstrates that this issue is quite complex and
involves a significant range of factors. Based on
the main focus on the EU member states, the
010 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
HUN
BGR
ROU
HRV
MLT
CYP
GRC
SVK
POL
CZE
SVN
ITA
LVA
ESP
LTU
PRT
AUT
FRA
BEL
EST
IRL
LUX
DEU
NLD
SWE
FIN
DNK
CPI 2022 CPI 2012
90
www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307
analysis indicatively shows the heterogeneity of
both the level of corruption perceptions and the
level of governance in the EU member states, and
the situation when even democratic European
countries can increase their own tolerance for
corruption manifestations during the last decade.
As the aim of the study provided, the
administrative and legal principles of the EU
member states regarding the implementation of
specialized anti-corruption bodies, legal
boundaries, control and supervision,
transparency, participation and other measures
that contribute to fighting corruption were
considered. This made it possible to identify the
effectiveness of such measures in different
contexts and in terms of using the good
governance principles in anti-corruption
activities.
The obtained results show that the high
performance of the public administration system,
which is reflected by two different parameters
(the efficiency of public administration bodies,
the level of e-governance), is partially correlated
with the strong anti-corruption policy of most EU
member states. But this is not a complete match.
This situation is confirmed by studies that
demonstrate, for example, the partial impact of
e-government on corruption (Silal et al., 2023).
The use of two factors describing the public
management system (WGI, EGDI), the
implementation of the good governance model
showed almost similar results, which proves the
correctness of the chosen methodological
approach. Some deviations can be explained by
the very specifics of the formation of both the
Electronic Government Development Index and
the efficiency indicator of public administration
bodies. In general, it can be argued that the
quality of public administration, the
implementation of the concept of good
governance, and the development of political
institutions are positively related to efficiency
and state development, determining control over
corruption (Chong et al., 2020). Another study
(Zou et al., 2023) also testifies to the partial
influence of the effectiveness of public
administration on corruption.
We can talk about the partial confirmation of the
obtained research results regarding the reduction
of corruption in the public administration system
due to the development of e-government (Chen
& Aklikokou, 2021). E-government reduces the
space of power, regulates the behaviour of public
authorities and public servants, thereby
fundamentally fighting corruption. E-
government reduces the personal interaction
between civil servants and citizens, thereby
weakening the freedom of action of officials and
reducing the opportunities for corruption (Zou et
al., 2023). As mentioned, e-governance
approaches contribute to good governance.
Based on the obtained results regarding the
decreased level of corruption perceptions in such
countries as Hungary, Cyprus, Malta, Poland,
Spain, Slovenia, the following should be noted.
Poland has decreased its approval of the rule of
law in relation to limitations on government
powers, protection of fundamental rights, and
criminal justice (World Justice Project, 2020).
Over the past decade, democratic achievements
have partially weakened. Similarly, Poland has
deepened autocratic positions over the past 10
years, gradually eliminating media freedom and
curtailing civil society (Lührmann & Lindberg,
2020). Although recently, the Polish government
has been trying to strengthen the independence of
the judiciary and reform the disciplinary regime
in the judicial branch of government after
criticism from the European Commission
regarding the observance of the rule of law.
As for Cyprus, the country is not able to start the
full functioning of the recently created anti-
corruption body. Spain is delaying anti-
corruption measures and updating legislation on
lobbying, transparency and information,
prompting warnings from the European
Commission. Malta demonstrates political
interference in mass media and anti-corruption
activities, cases of corruption of high-ranking
officials remain without verdicts for a long time.
Since 2014, a decreased freedom and integrity of
elections has been recorded in Hungary, which
has significantly limited the activities of mass
media and civil society (Bozóki & Hegedűs,
2018), while civil freedoms have become
significantly restricted. The degradation of
democratic achievements and the weakening of
the rule of law in Hungary in 2022 put the
country at the very bottom of the corruption
perceptions in the EU. Evidence of misuse of EU
and state funds by political leaders were
revealed. There is an urgent need for pressure
from EU institutions on the government to
restore the rule of law in Hungary (Transparency
International, 2023b).
The development of effective legal,
organizational and administrative methods aimed
at preventing and stopping corruption among
public authorities will not only improve the
quality of management, but also ensure reliable
protection of the rights and legitimate interests of
Volume 12 - Issue 71
/ November 2023
91
http:// www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307
citizens. First of all, the legislation on the status
of public authorities, on the powers of officials,
on the administrative and disciplinary
responsibility of public officials should be
improved at the EU level, and key provisions
should be implemented in the national legislation
of EU member states. The improvement of
administrative legislation is determined by the
fact that corruption deforms administrative-legal
management relations that arise between the
powerful subject of law (a body of public
authority) and the subordinate subject of law (a
natural person or legal entity). In turn, this entails
negative consequences in the form of a criminal
threat to citizens, society, and the state. Besides,
the corruption of the management of individual
institutional bodies is primarily costs of the
system not only of the budget of an individual
country of the Commonwealth, but also of the
EU budget as a whole, which must be minimized.
Particular attention should be paid to the
improvement of e-governance models and the
concept of good governance in the system of
public authorities of EU member states.
Conclusions
The study shows that EU member states use
different administrative and legal methods of
fighting corruption. This includes legislative
measures, the establishment of specialized anti-
corruption bodies, improving of the system of
control and supervision, development of
transparency and accountability codes in the
activities of public authorities. Effectively
fighting corruption requires cooperation between
various actors, including supranational and
national authorities, anti-corruption agencies,
and civil society.
The study shows that the EU countries make
significant efforts to develop and implement
effective administrative and legal methods that
contribute to the prevention of corruption, the
detection of corruption cases, their proper
investigation and punishment. Improving anti-
corruption legislation, strengthening control,
monitoring, increasing the efficiency of anti-
corruption bodies, sharing experience and
transferring best practices and using the good
governance principles are necessary steps to
achieve sustainable progress in the fight against
corruption among public authorities in EU
countries.
It was found that administrative and legal
methods in the system of public administration
are not sufficient for the implementation of anti-
corruption policy. The reason is that corruption
in the EU sometimes goes beyond the boundaries
of only one country and its legislative boundaries
and law enforcement. The implementation of
effective administrative and legal methods of
fighting corruption is a key task for public
authorities and leading institutions of the EU, as
evidenced by the existing problems of some EU
countries. This requires a systemic approach,
strong legislative frameworks, strengthening the
capacity of specialized anti-corruption bodies
and constant improvement of anti-corruption
mechanisms.
Bibliographic references
Agarwal, A., & Maiti, D. (2020). ICTs and
Effectiveness of Governance: A Cross-
Country Study. In: D. Maiti, F. Castellacci &
A. Melchior (Eds.), Digitalisation and
Development (pp. 321-343). Singapore:
Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-
13-9996-1_12
Armand, A., Coutts, A., Vicente, P. C., &
Vilela, I. (2023). Measuring corruption in the
field using behavioral games. Journal of
Public Economics, 218, 104799.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2022.1047
99
Bozóki, A., & Hegedűs, D. (2018). An externally
constrained hybrid regime: Hungary in the
European Union. Democratization, 25(7),
1173-1189.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2018.1455
664
Castro, C., & Lopes, C. (2022). Digital
government and sustainable development.
Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 13(2),
880-903. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-
021-00749-2
Chen, L., & Aklikokou, A. K. (2021). Relating e-
government development to government
effectiveness and control of corruption: a
cluster analysis. Journal of Chinese
Governance, 6(1), 155-173.
https://doi.org/10.1080/23812346.2019.1698
693
Chong, S. P. C., Tee, C. M., & Cheng, S. V.
(2020). Political institutions and the control
of corruption: A cross-country evidence.
Journal of Financial Crime, 28(1), 25-48.
https://doi.org/10.1108/jfc-05-2020-0094
Di Mascio, F., Maggetti, M., & Natalini, A.
(2020). Exploring the dynamics of delegation
over time: Insights from Italian anti‐
corruption agencies (2003–2016). Policy
Studies Journal, 48(2), 367-400.
https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12253
European Commission. (2023a). Directive of the
European Parliament and of the Council on
92
www.amazoniainvestiga.info ISSN 2322- 6307
combating corruption. Retrieved from
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2023%3A2
34%3AFIN
European Commission. (2023b). Joint
Communication to the European Parliament,
the Council and the European economic and
social committee on the fight against
corruption. Retrieved from
https://commission.europa.eu/system/files/2
023-05/JOIN_2023_12_1_EN.pdf
European Union. (1997). Convention drawn up
on the basis of Article K.3 (2) (c) of the Treaty
on European Union on the fight against
corruption involving officials of the
European Communities or officials of
Member States of the European Union.
Retrieved from https://acortar.link/zxUhH3
European Union. (2008). Council Decision
2008/852/JHA of 24 October 2008 on a
contact-point network against corruption.
Retrieved from https://acortar.link/picHf7
European Union. (2012). Consolidated versions
of the Treaty on European Union and the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union Union. Retrieved from
https://acortar.link/pCE1CW
European Union. (2022). Corruption.
Eurobarometer. Retrieved from
https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/det
ail/2658
European Union. (2023). EU legislation on anti-
corruption. Retrieved from
https://acortar.link/ZgzII9
Gallego-Álvarez, I., Rodríguez-Rosa, M., &
Vicente-Galindo, P. (2021). Are worldwide
governance indicators stable or do they
change over time? a comparative study using
multivariate analysis. Mathematics, 9(24),
3257. https://doi.org/10.3390/math9243257
Gorsira, M., Steg, L., Denkers, A., &
Huisman, W. (2018). Corruption in
organizations: Ethical climate and individual
motives. Administrative Sciences, 8(1), 4.
https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci8010004
Johnston, M., & Heidenheimer, A. (2017).
Political Corruption: Concepts and Contexts.
New York, NY: Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315126647
Kasa, R., Réthi, G., Hauber, G., & Szegedi, K.
(2023). Simulation of corruption decisions –
An agent-based approach. Sustainability,
15(3), 2561.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032561
Lührmann, A., & Lindberg, S. I. (Eds.). (2020).
Autocratization Surges – Resistance Grows.
Democracy Report 2020. V-DEM. Retrieved
from https://acortar.link/NZrOJN
Mao, Z., Yao, H., Zou, Q., Zhang, W., &
Dong, Y. (2021). Digital contact tracing
based on a graph database algorithm for
emergency management during the COVID-
19 epidemic: Case study. JMIR Mhealth
Uhealth, 9(1), e26836.
https://doi.org/10.2196/26836
Qu, G., Slagter, B., Sylwester, K., & Doiron, K.
(2019). Explaining the standard errors of
corruption perception indices. Journal of
Comparative Economics, 47(4), 907-920.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2019.07.003
Rose-Ackerman, S. (2018). Corruption & purity.
Daedalus, 147(3), 98-110.
https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_00505
Silal, P., Jha, A., & Saha, D. (2023). Examining
the role of E-government in controlling
corruption: A longitudinal study. Information
& Management, 60(1), 103735.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2022.103735
Transparency International. (2023a). Corruption
perceptions index 2022. Retrieved from
https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2022
Transparency International. (2023b). CPI 2022
For Western Europe & EU: undue influence
and fragmented anti-corruption measures
hurt progress. Retrieved from
https://acortar.link/oQOp6J
United Nations. (2020). E-Government survey
2020 – digital government in the decade of
action for sustainable development.
Retrieved from
https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3884686?
ln=ru
United Nations. (2022). E-government survey
2022. The Future of Digital Government.
Retrieved from https://acortar.link/2FVcv5
von Der Leyen, U. G. (2022). State of the Union
Address by President von der Leyen.
European Commission. Retrieved from
https://acortar.link/Inq6Vt
World Bank. (2023). Worldwide Governance
Indicators. Retrieved from
https://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/
World Justice Project. (2020). Rule of Law Index
2020. Retrieved from
https://acortar.link/pYgizO
Zou, Q., Mao, Z., Yan, R., Liu, S., & Duan, Z.
(2023). Vision and reality of e-government
for governance improvement: Evidence from
global cross-country panel data.
Technological Forecasting and Social
Change, 194, 122667.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.1226
67