A discreet practice, but not necessarily so rare in the Grand Duchy, the exchange of gifts for services penalizes economic activity according to 41% of the bosses surveyed by the European Commission.
Did you know there is a World Anti-Corruption Day? The United Nations has set it for December 9. "No doubt it would take much more than 24 hours to raise public awareness of this scourge", regrets Jean-Jacques Bernard, executive director of the Asbl Stop Corrupt. Especially since the scourge also strikes the Grand Duchy. As a recent study by the European Commission has just pointed out.

Thus, this Eurobarometer was carried out on the basis of 150 interviews in the country. And it shows in particular that 41% of respondents believe that corruption is a problem for the activity of their company. A figure higher than the average observed across the 28 EU Member States. “This should not be translated as there is more corruption here than elsewhere, notes Jean-Jacques Bernard. I would rather say that the figure indicates that tongues are loosened on this delicate problem”.

11% of the bosses questioned also acknowledge that "someone, in 2019, was asked or expected of a member of the company to give a gift, grant a favor or give extra money in exchange for permit or future services. This time, the figure is double the average observed in the Union. And the study even notes that the Luxembourg proportion has increased by 11% since the last survey in 2017.

For Stop Corrupt, this increase is all the more worrying as it concerns a country where everyone knows each other, "where networks take precedence over rules, where interests intersect" due to the small number of political actors, economic, social. In fact, small arrangements between friends, presents, "envelopes" are to be feared. Moreover, 47% of nationals questioned believe that favoring friends or a member of one's family in the business world is a widespread practice, 34% believing that this same favoritism applies in public institutions.

Reminders to order
“It is on this point that our Asbl reacts because, if there is corruption, it necessarily impacts public money. A gift offered is less euros to act positively on society,” emphasizes Jean-Jacques Bernard. On a global scale, the International Monetary Fund also estimates between 1,500 to 2,000 billion euros the extent of corruption. That's still 2% of global GDP...

For the Asbl, there is no question of closing our eyes here, only to open them to cases of corruption in less developed countries. "The economic damage and the loss of confidence generated by corruption in Luxembourg are real and even damage the external image of the nation", considers the director of the association. World control authorities, such as the Gafi, have also repeatedly called the country to order so that it adopts a firmer attitude.

For an independent authority
So, if Stop Corrupt salutes certain government initiatives (such as the good implementation by the Grand Duchy in the international exchange of data on financial movements or the fight against money laundering), the structure recognized as being of public utility points to "a lack of will to tackle corruption”.

Also, Jean-Jacques Bernard and his followers are calling on the Minister of Justice, Sam Tanson (Déi Gréng) to act more firmly against corrupters and the corrupt. "The ideal would be the creation of an independent authority, headed by the prosecution, which could carry out its own investigations and that the sanctions then fall." At present, and according to the European Commission's survey, 21% of business leaders surveyed believe that people or companies caught are sanctioned "appropriately". Reaching 100% convinced would be better.

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