High-Level Corruption: An Analysis of Schemes, Costs and Policy Recommendations

The FALCON project has published a comprehensive policy brief that examines corruption schemes and societal impact, and provides policy recommendations to enhance anti-corruption efforts across Europe.

Corruption, defined broadly as the misuse of public office for private gain, undermines civil, political, and economic rights, erodes trust in institutions and hinders economic progress. The FALCON Innovation Action, funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe framework programme, has produced a policy brief titled “High-Level Corruption: An Analysis of Schemes, Costs and Policy Recommendations“. The report was carried out by Transcrime, Government Transparency Institute, and Basel Institute on Governance as part of the project’s Work Package 2.

The analysis offers valuable resources for policy makers, law enforcement, and legal practitioners, providing insights and strategies to effectively combat corruption. Within the FALCON project, the findings in the policy brief are being used to develop data-driven tools that enhance the analysis of corruption and help combat it more effectively.

Key findings from the policy brief include:

• Corruption Schemes and Modi Operandi: Based on the four corruption domains covered by FALCON – i. e. public procurement fraud, border corruption, evasion of sanctions, and conflicts of interest involving influential figures – the brief presents various corruption methods, such as bribery, embezzlement, and document forgery, with a focus on transnational activities facilitated by satellite jurisdictions.
• Corruption Risk Indicators: New indicators are proposed to assess corruption risks, using high-quality administrative data and corporate information. These indicators can guide policy making and support investigations.
• Impact of Corruption: The document addresses the consequences of corruption, including distorted public resource allocation, reduced foreign investment, and diminished trust in public institutions.
• Policy Recommendations: The brief suggests improvements in data collection, interoperability, and standardisation to enhance monitoring and prevention. It also calls for the strengthening of legal frameworks to address vulnerabilities in administrative procedures and the harmonisation of efforts across EU Member States.

The report is available here.