REPORT GREECE 18.01.2008 Dubrovnik, Croatia

1. RESEARCH PROJECT:“Crime as a cultural problem. The relevance of perceptions of corruption to crime prevention. A comparative cultural study in the EU states” REPORT GREECE 18.01.2008 Dubrovnik, Croatia

2. INTRODUCTION COMMENTS ON PROCESS OF DATA GENERATION • Selection criteria for the interviewees: their position, familiarity with the project’s topic, accessibility & the likelihood of a positive response • Serious delay in succeeding the approval of some interviewees (especially politicians) thus affected analysis and evaluation • Each interview was usually carried out by two researchers • Transcription quite time-consuming COMMENTS ON THE QUESTIONNAIRE • Avoid to use the term “corruption” for not propagating its already wide use • Structured around 4 subjects: a) general anti-corruption legislation and interviewees’ perceptions of the issue, b) definitions and views, c) experiences from their own TG, d) policies and measures enforced and should be against corruption

3. CONCLUSIONS I 1) The intensity of the problem • While “expanded” …restricted … • Most serious: Transparency of parties’ operation & Private economic interests 2)Extent of the problem in relation to other countries • None TG apart from Economy and NGOs accepted that corruption in Greece is higher/much higher, than in other developed European countries

4. CONCLUSIONS II 3)Definition of Corruption: vague dissent about its content • Definition admitted it is general, …very general… • Useful for communication • However, not applicable for dispensation of justice, and not including grand corruption • Coercion = necessary element to distinguish corrupt and punishable practices Note:Term confusing, placing economic crime, tax evasion, share leaks etc., even fraud and thefts in corruption area

5. CONCLUSIONS III 4)Causes • Consumerism, greed, low education, erosion of civilization, increase in tolerance towards law violations, collapse of values; • Low quality of politicians, failing models and missing strong personalities in the public life, state’s discredit; • Overregulation, law ambiguities, often law changes; • Involvement of private interests, political capture and reliance on economic interests; Interplay of political and economic interests = the original accumulation of the Greek capital in the 19th and 20th century Distorted development of the Greek economy and the political dependence of the New Greek state

6. CONCLUSIONS IV 5)Approaches about the causes • Individualistic-ethicist; individualistic-economist; Note: Historical dimension in raw, unrefined and standardised • Socio-political approach; Polito-economic approach; • Socio-legal approach 6) The EU’s support in confronting corruption is appreciated and its role is considered positive • Yet, significant place in the discourse: The declining role of EU as a prototype for the country’s improvement and citizens’ education mainly due problems of coordination and political integration However, Optimism − due to “better education, the exhaustion of population’s tolerance to such practices, the increasing resentment and signs of population’s reaction”

7. CONCLUSIONS V 7) Having Strategy - Goals & Measures • All TGs stress a) the need for reforms at legislative and/or economic level, b) the improvement of quality of public administration • In specific, regulatory reform: recasting, consolidation of legislation, simplification, and administrative reform: simplification of procedures and full computerization in order to avoid ‘contact points’ between citizens and public servants • Modernization of Justice • Emancipation of public administration from politics • Anti-corruption legislation is sufficient − Political will for reforms and transparency is missing

8. CONCLUSIONS VI 8)Anti-corruption policies • Rejection of repressive methods and severe punishment • Strengthening of prevention with improvement of education, information, sensitization, mobilization and awareness of the citizens and control of private mass media (esp. electronic) • Necessary the upgrading of political life with qualified, better educated and scrupulous politicians • Emancipation of politics and their release from economic interests, reform of electoral law (voting system), more efficient and (occasionally less) control mechanisms and effective law enforcement

9. CONCLUSIONS VII 9) Final Comments • The meaning of culture although often used remained obscure • The discourse: positive, constructive • However, elements of the national identity and culture were rarely approached in a positive way • It is acknowledged that corruption in modern Greece must be eliminated, because it is incompatible with democratic values and economic growth