# People and Corruption: Europe and Central Asia 2016 URL: https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/people-and-corruption-europe-and-central-asia-2016 Type: Publication or report Published: 2016-11-16 Updated: 2020-06-22 --- 16 November 2016 Europe has seen a surge in recent years of support for populist and nationalist movements – from Spain to the UK to Turkey. The reasons are manifold and complex, but are driven to a large degree by the belief that traditional democratic institutions – governments, political parties – are failing to deliver on promises of prosperity and equal opportunity and that they cannot be trusted. Corruption is central to this story – both the failure of governments to properly address corruption and their complicity in corrupt or clientelist schemes. It has become impossible to ignore systemic corruption in the way business influences politics, as shown by the on-going trial of 37 executives and politicians in Spain who are alleged to have been involved in a “kickbacks-for-contracts” scheme for nearly a decade.ii Examples such as this can give ordinary citizens the impression that public spending and public policy is distorted to favour the few over the many. ### Related publications ## [Ending Debt Secrecy: Recommendations to the G20 on Anti-Corruption in Sovereign Borrowing and Lending](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/ending-debt-secrecy-g20-recommendations) Publication • 04 September 2026 Recommendations to the G20 to strengthen transparency, accountability and integrity in sovereign borrowing and lending ## [Monitoring political finance: Compendium of citizen initiatives and good practices](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/monitoring-political-finance-compendium-of-citizen-initiatives-and-good-practices) Publication • 18 August 2026 This compendium aims to provide ideas for stakeholders interested in monitoring political finance. It presents seven monitoring and disclosure solutions from around the world,… ## [Whistleblowing Authorities in Europe: Roles, challenges and lessons learned](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/whistleblowing-authorities-in-europe-roles-challenges-and-lessons-learned) Publication • 19 June 2026 This report examines the institutional design, mandates and functioning of national whistleblowing authorities across Europe. ## [Global Corruption Barometer 2003](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/gcb-2003) Publication • 03 July 2003 ## Priorities - [Judiciary and law enforcement](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/judiciary-and-law-enforcement) - [Political integrity](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/political-integrity) ![](https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/GCB_ECA_cover.png?auto=compress&fit=crop&fm=webp&w=1200) [Download](https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/2016_GCB_ECA_EN.pdf)