Corruption, Democracy and Development: The Role of the European Union

The European Union (EU) has made serious attempts to tackle corruption in its Member States (MS), candidates and potential candidates for EU accession, as well as in third countries. Through its conditionality mechanism, the EU has specifically attempted to influence domestic corruption control in Central and Eastern European (CEE) candidates. Moreover, the revised European Neighbourhood Policy is particularly focusing on good governance, democracy, and the rule of law to foster stabilization, security, and prosperity in the region. Nevertheless, many CEE MS suffer from high levels of corruption. In our analysis we focus in particular on Bulgaria and Hungary – two countries that show both an increase in the level of corruption and a decline in their democratic consolidation over the last few years. Based on a documentary analysis our study aims to answer what is the impact (or lack thereof) of the EU on corruption control and the effects on the development of democracy in Bulgaria and Hungary. Our study provides deeper insights into issues with the misuse of EU funds in these countries to examine the efforts that the EU made to protect its budget. We contribute both to the Europeanization literature and the corruption literature by illustrating that the EU has some mechanisms to protect its budget from corruption but that they are not used to their fullest potential. In regard to the corruption literature, this study acknowledges but also criticizes the role of the EU as an international actor in the fight against corruption.