Transparency International

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Transparency International
(TI)
logo
legal form registered association
founding May 1993
founder Peter Eigen , John Githongo , Jeremy Pope, Kamal Hossain , Obiageli Ezekwesili , Dolores Español
Seat Berlin ( ⊙ coordinates: 52 ° 31 ′ 25.7 ″  N , 13 ° 20 ′ 42 ″  E )
main emphasis Fight against corruption , crime prevention
Chair Delia Ferreira Rubio (CEO)
Managing directors Patricia Moreira
sales 21,927,485 euros (2018)
Members over 100 national chapters as well as individuals
Website www.transparency.org

Transparency International e. V. (short TI ) is an international non-governmental organization with headquarters in Berlin , which was established in 1993. The purpose of the non-profit- making ideal association is the worldwide fight against corruption as well as the prevention of crimes that are related to corruption. Transparency International is an umbrella organization whose members, in addition to a few individuals, are more than 100 national organizations ("National Chapters") that are dedicated to fighting corruption in their home countries. The organization responsible for Germany, Transparency Germany , was founded in 1996 and is also based in Berlin.

activity

Focus

According to its own statement, TI works mainly on the following topics:

  • Political corruption
  • Corruption in public tenders
  • Private sector corruption
  • International Conventions Against Corruption
  • Poverty and development

Formation of coalitions

In order to understand the complexity of corruption, one had to understand and understand the reasons and mechanisms. Therefore, TI did not want, such as B. Amnesty International , pursue individual cases, but uncover weaknesses in laws, institutions or systems in the affected countries and ensure reforms. Transparency International tries not to impose itself, but rather to achieve the common sense of those involved in cooperation and objective disputes, to form coalitions in the clear knowledge that rethinking does not happen in a few hours, but has to be worked hard through constant scrutiny with control and consequences Failure to follow the rules.

The sentencing guideline practiced in America is cited as a good example of voluntary self-regulation . This relies on the self-commitment of companies to entrust themselves to the control of an independent institution and to take countermeasures if necessary. In view of the high penalties for proven corruption, this is cheaper and more practical for companies in the USA - especially since they do not have to fear being denounced on "black lists" or excluded from tenders.

Indices and analyzes

Overview of the corruption perception index, by country (as of 2017)

In the annual report, the organization summarizes current analyzes and research results on the subject of corruption. In addition, the organization regularly publishes indices, studies and manuals on special topics ( Bribe Payers Survey, special corruption brochure). The indices and statistics are updated regularly. Constant contact with both those affected and perpetrators is important for work. Transparency International assumes that corrupt governments and corporations can abuse cooperation with TI to cover up their activities. This cooperation is criticized again and again by other NGOs, but from TI's point of view it is what makes its own success.

Transparency International regularly publishes three indices on corruption:

  • Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI): The best-known index from Transparency International. Every year he lists countries according to how corrupt politics and administration are perceived in comparison. The index value ranges from 0 (completely corrupt) to 100 (completely uncorrupted). In 2017, the CPI comprised 180 countries. The index was created up to 2008 by Johann Graf Lambsdorff , professor at the University of Passau, who evaluated a large number of existing surveys. Since then the index has been created by Transparency International. Foreign country analysts and business people are primarily surveyed.
  • Bribe Payers Index (BPI): The BPI lists the countries from which the highest corruption payments come.
  • Global corruption barometer: For the corruption barometer, private individuals are asked which areas of life are affected by corruption and how much.

In the Transparency International's Quarterly Newsletter (TI Q), the interim results can be viewed on the homepage together with other news, events and results relating to the world of corruption or can be obtained free of charge as a booklet from TI.

organization

structure

The national member organizations of TI ( national chapters ) are divided into regional groups and working groups, which can also act independently on a case-by-case basis. Transparency International avoids interfering directly in the interests of its national chapters and, in its international work, is guided exclusively by their instructions (“decentralism”). The aim is to mobilize and promote local civil society forces. "Missionary" tendencies with which existing or slowly growing "healthy" social ethics could be overwhelmed or even stifled, should be prevented as far as possible.

The association attaches great importance to the fact that the national member organizations can be as self-sufficient as possible in their respective home countries or operational areas, since different rules must and should be observed from country to country and from culture to culture. The definition of corruption is also made individually in each country; Transparency International is keen to respect local sensitivity. Nevertheless, the offshoot in Russia has been registered as a "foreign agent" .

financing

According to its own information, TI had a budget of EUR 22.358 million in 2018. The national member organizations are subject to bilateral and multilateral funding and organization. Transparency International is recognized as a non-profit organization and strives to remain politically, economically and civically independent. TI publishes a comprehensive list of all financial flows on its homepage. TI's budget consists of the following sources:

in € million 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
State bodies 14,468 11.712 14.829 18.169 22,562 24.781 18.815 17.110 13.649 10.260 7.555 7.097
International organizations 3,595 4,544 4.208 5.558 1,787 0.966 1.493 0.805 0.366 0.622 0.919 0.686
Foundations 2,201 2,878 2.229 1.754 1,135 0.453 1.444 1.936 2.749 2.214 0.789 0.705
Private sector 1.004 0.944 1.134 1.036 0.585 0.277 0.566 0.396 0.690 0.654 1.120 0.242
Individuals 0.057 0.052 0.144 0.046 0.352 0.331 0.025 0.021 0.082 0.045 0.046 0.047
Partner ("Coalition Partners") 0.340 0.042 0.104 0.034 0.022 * * * * * * *
Other 0.692 0.658 0.289 0.279 0.265 * * 0.282 0.491 0.442 0.453 0.316
total 22.358 20,830 22,929 26,877 26,707 26,708 22,343 20,550 18,027 14.237 10,882 9.093

* No information in the respective annual reports

The largest government donors in 2015 included the European Commission (EUR 5.07 million), the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (EUR 2.67 million) and the British Department for International Development (EUR 3.5 million ) and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1.2 million euros). The largest donors at the foundation level were the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (0.59 million euros) and the National Endowment for Democracy (0.45 million euros). The largest private donor was Siemens with EUR 0.62 million, followed by Ernst & Young with EUR 0.23 million.

history

founding

The reason for founding the organization was the negative experiences of founder Peter Eigen with corruption during his many years of work for the World Bank , most recently as director of the regional mission for East Africa in Kenya. Eigen saw corruption as the main obstacle to the success of development projects. He came to the conviction that development aid could not work if corrupt structures between rich and poor countries as well as within the individual countries were not broken up and made transparent. When he began to campaign against corruption in his position, he received a warning from his employer. The World Bank informed him that "any political activity and interference in the 'internal affairs' of a country is prohibited".

This gave rise to the idea of founding an independent NGO dedicated exclusively to the fight against corruption. In June 1993 Eigen and ten colleagues founded TI in The Hague. TI was founded as a registered association under German law on October 5, 1993. TI's seat was initially the Borsig Villa in Berlin. The founding of TI was significantly supported by the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) (now merged into the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ)), which initially signed a rental guarantee for DM 70,000, among other things. Between 1998 and 2008, various TI institutions received around 590,000 euros from GTZ.

At the time TI was founded, the following people were represented on the Executive Board in addition to Eigen: Hansjörg Elshorst , Joe Githongo , Fritz Heimann , Michael Hershman , Kamal Hossain , Dolores L. Español , George Moody Stuart , Jerry Parfitt , Jeremy Pope and Frank Vogl . He became chairman and managing director of TI.

Controversy on the OECD Convention

A major criticism in the early stages of TI was its conservative anti-corruption philosophy. When the OECD had the issue of international corruption on the agenda at the instigation of the USA in 1989 and set up a corresponding “Working Group” with the establishment of the European internal market ( Maastricht Treaty 1993), it set out to create a “ Recommendation on Combating Bribery in International Business Transactions ”. Even then, the OECD was concerned with the idea of ​​fighting corruption against resistance from those affected at the source. Corruption against other states should in future be treated legally in the same way as domestic corruption in the donor countries. This would have meant a major break in the entrepreneurial freedoms of European corporations and required an appropriate response. In parallel to the OECD activities in the Bonn parliament (legislative period 1991–1994), a controversy arose as to whether corruption against foreign officials would remain legally and tax deductible (Section 4 (5) No. 10 EStG, valid until March 19, 1999 ) or should be prosecuted instead

While the OECD Convention called for the fight against the well-known huge sources of bribe money in the highly developed EU exporting countries, Transparency International, which was founded in the same year (1993), propagated the opposite, traditional way and recommended that corruption in the recipient countries be assessed and there as before to fight the passive corrupt instead of the active corrupt. Consequently, TI proposed the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI, index of "perceived" corruption) established by Johann Graf Lambsdorff in 1995 as a benchmark for assessing corruption , which deliberately leaves out active corruption. Thus, the CPI does not provide an assessment of the extent of (active and passive) corruption, but of the perceived disadvantage of the injured party. Despite delays by individual states, the OECD convention against corruption in foreign trade was finally signed in the member states and finally came into force in 1999.

Further development

The controversy that has sparked between critics and supporters of the CPI, which has often been cited since its publication, is the cause of numerous critical treatises to this day. In 2012, Yuliya V. Tverdova referred in a comparative study (“Perceptions or Experiences: Using Alternative Corruption Measures in a Multilevel Study of Political Support”, University of California, Irvine ) to misinterpretations of the CPI, including by TI experts “Numerous concerns ranging ... to systematic biases in the expert estimates” and characterizes the CPI as subjective and “poll of polls that draws on multiple sources of elite and mass opinions”.

TI later drew level with the OECD by first publishing the Bribe Payers Index (BPI) in 1999 . Nevertheless, it took a total of many years for the OECD convention to be signed by all states, ratified in the parliaments and finally put into practice, so that legal prosecution of these practices in the exporting states only began after 2003. Since then, the TI has been speaking of a “network of corruption” and explicitly accuses the masterminds in the donor countries.

In November 2011 Transparency International received the A.SK Social Science Award 2011 from the Berlin Science Center for Social Research . The prize is endowed with 100,000 euros.

The journalists David Schraven and Frederik Richter from CORRECT! V accused TI of non-transparent accounting in 2015 at a publicly funded anti-corruption conference in Brazil.

The following important information is missing from this article or section:
Internal organization problems regarding transparency and business ethics since 2015 - for details see Talk page
Help Wikipedia by researching and pasting it .

Others

Transparency International has presented the Transparency International Integrity Award every year since 2000 .

In January 2017, Transparency International published a study on the question of how many of the more than 500 former European politicians became lobbyists after their political activities.

Web links

Commons : Transparency International  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Our chapters. Transparency International e. V., accessed April 5, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b Individual members. Transparency International e. V., accessed April 5, 2016 .
  3. ↑ a b company owner data . In: Common register portal of the federal states . Retrieved April 5, 2016 .
  4. ^ A b Transparency International Charter. Transparency International e. V., November 14, 2006, accessed on April 5, 2016 (association statutes).
  5. ↑ Transparency International: Transparency International Global Priorities ( Memento from April 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Transparency International In: planet-wissen.de
  7. ^ CV of Professor Dr. Johann Graf Lambsdorff at the University of Passau (PDF; 157 kB)
  8. ^ FC Kremlin. Republic , accessed June 17, 2018 .
  9. ↑ TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL E.V. - FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2018. (PDF) Retrieved on February 22, 2017 .
  10. ^ Website transparency.org
  11. ^ Issuu Inc .: International 2011 Annual Report, p. 79.
  12. ↑ Transaprency International - Audited Financial Reports. Retrieved February 22, 2017 .
  13. ↑ TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL E.V. - FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2018. (PDF) Accessed January 22, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Transparency International e. V. Financial Statements 2015. https://www.transparency.org/files/content/ouraccountability/TIS_2015FinancialStatements_rev2.pdf
  15. ^ Anke Martiny: Transparency International - The Coalition Against Corruption, Quarterly Issues for Economic Research 73 (2004), 2, pp. 330–338.
  16. ↑ Eigen (2003), Das Netz der Korruption, p. 35.
  17. ↑ The founding history of Transparency International Deutschland e. V. ( Memento from October 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ spiegel.de: Transparency International - Guardian in a dilemma Spiegel Online on August 4, 2009.
  19. ^ When and why was Transparency International (TI) founded? ( Memento of February 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) FAQ Archive, Transparency International
  20. ^ Hicks, Bill (2010). "Transparency International". Pinkindustry.com.
  21. ↑ a b Peter Larmour, Brett Bowden: Global standards of market civilization . Ed .: Routledge. 2006, ISBN 0-415-37545-2 , pp. 95-106 .
  22. ↑ oecd.org (PDF).
  23. ↑ a b ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT - GENERAL DISTRIBUTION: CONVENTION ON COMBATING BRIBERY OF FOREIGN PUBLIC OFFICIALS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS and Related Documents (PDF)
  24. ↑ Report of a Parliamentary Finance Committee 1994, pp. 6 + 7: "In the opinion of the SPD parliamentary group, the report of the federal government also clearly shows that in most foreign industrialized countries bribes and bribes are tax deductible to a much lesser extent than in the Federal Republic of Germany For example, in almost all countries the recipient must be specified for payments abroad ... The deductibility of the expenses mentioned (bribes and bribes) is a tax subsidy ... "
  25. ↑ The CPI is explicitly based on the perceived assessment of laypeople and experts and is not reduced to actual experience and its analysis.
  26. ↑ Using Alternative Corruption Measures (PDF) ipsa.org
  27. ↑ Eigen (2003), Das Netz der Korruption, p. 35.
  28. ^ Berlin Science Center for Social Research: A.SK Social Science Award 2011 for Transparency International , press release of October 14, 2011
  29. ↑ www.transparency.de: Transparency International receives A.SK Social Science Award 2011 , press release from November 18, 2011 ( Memento from November 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  30. ↑ correctiv.org
  31. ↑ Integrity Awards at transparency.org (English), accessed June 25, 2016.
  32. ↑ ACCESS ALL AREAS - When EU politicians become lobbyists (PDF; 3 MB), FAZ.net: Where former EU politicians now work