Estonia and Poland: Setting Up Regional Examples in Anti-Corruption Performance

In the last two decades the CEE new member states have adopted reforms to address political corruption, have established diverse accountability mechanisms to fight the problem, yet the phenomenon is not only prevalent, it is also worsening in most of the states according to the latest EU Report on EU Anti-Corruption (2014). Unlike Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, Poland and Estonia have registered sustainable progress however at different stages in their political development. Estonia embarked on its reform wave since the early 1990s, while Poland has registered significant progressed since 2004. By employing a structured comparison model I contrast institutional reforms undertaken by the two cases since the 1990s in the judiciary. I explore in this context the reforms that have been implemented to strengthen the independence of the judiciary vis-à-vis the political institutions. I contrast the findings to the reforms in the judiciary undertaken in Slovakia and Hungary, two cases where anti-corruption indicators have declined after accession. I expect to find that domestically driven reforms in the judiciary have contributed to better anti-corruption performance. Finally, I analyze under what conditions these reforms were possible in Estonia and Poland, and what conditions led to their failure in Slovakia and Hungary.