France, the country which has historically pioneered merit based civil service and has some of the finest public accountability laws in the European Union, has been constantly shaken by political corruption scandals over the past thirty years. Its judiciary is not sufficiently autonomous from government, resulting in weak prosecution of corruption, particularly at top levels, although this has improved in recent years. Restrictive laws and conservative minded magistrates further restrict the media’s capacity to disclose corruption, rather than reporting it only after official investigations have already begun. Far better oversight is needed to monitor compliance with international legislation by companies seeking government favors abroad. Recent attempts to tighten conflict of interest rules and enforce them at top political level have yet to result in different practices.

Germany is a country with practically no administrative corruption, but recent scandals showed that the connection between business and politics is highly problematic and accountability of politicians leaves much to be desired. Much more should be done to enforce sanctions against business fraud and corruption, and to improve the separation between business and politics domestically. Open government has also progressed quite slowly, and public procurement at sub-national level is not transparent, with frequent cost overruns reminiscent of more corrupt countries.