Korruption in Suomi - Mikä tämä on?

[sieg01]

Laut dieser Statistik gibt es sie anscheinend doch.

http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mens ... 67,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mens ... -2,00.html

[sunny1011]

Zwar hat Finnland einen extrem niedrigen Index, aber es gab einige Vorfälle in der Papierindustrie in der letzten Zeit.

Es ist immer wieder erstaunlich, dass die allgemeine Reaktion ist "ei meillä oo Suomessa...". Genauso wie bei der Festnahme im Pädophilenring und bei Kindermisshandlungsgeschichten. :rolleyes:

[Risto]

Laut Transparency International seien Finnland, Island und Neu-Seeland die am wenigsten korruptierten Länder der Welt. Die Schweiz ist auf Platz 7, Österreich auf Platz 11 und Deutschland auf Platz 16 gelandet.

http://www.transparency.org/news_room/l ... 6_cpi_2006

[Klaus]

sunny1011 schrieb am 11.10.2006 23:32

"ei meillä oo Suomessa..."

Was heißt das denn??? ?(

[Puolukka]

Klaus schrieb am 06.11.2006 13:21

sunny1011 schrieb am 11.10.2006 23:32

"ei meillä oo Suomessa..."

Was heißt das denn??? ?(

Das haben wir nicht in Finnland

[Naali]

umgangssprachlich

[Klaus]

Ahja, kiitos.

[sunny1011]

Das stimmt schon, dass Finnland eine sehr gute Plazierung auf dem CPI (Corruption Perceptions Index / Korruptionsindex) weltweit hat :thumbsu: (im Vergleich zu den baltischen Nachbarn und Russland erst recht). Man darf nicht vergessen, dass es sich um die Wahrnehmungen von erfahrenen ortsansässigen und auswärtigen Geschäftspersonen und Länderanalysten handelt (wie der Name "perception" schon sagt). Die Aufdeckung von Korruptonsfällen werden in einer anderen Statistik geführt. Gott sei dank waren es nur wenige Fälle, die diesen Ruf beeinträchtigen.

Deutschland hat dabei einen zweifelhaften Ruf.

[sunny1011]

Hier mal wieder ein Beweis für das Wort "perception index". Die Rate liegt so niedrig nur weil derartige Vorgehen nicht aufgedeckt werden (bzw. nicht an die öffentlichkeit gelangen). Jetzt soll mehr Geld darin investiert werden.

State Prosecutor says Finland has more corruption than people think
Jukka Rappe wants more resources into investigating crime

Finnish State Prosecutor Juha Rappe believes that there is more corruption in Finland than is generally recognised.
In an interview with the financial daily Taloussanomat on Wednesday, Rappe says that more cases would probably come to light if more resources were invested in the investigation of crimes of corruption.
"One can consider it certain that in this field as well, not all cases come to the attention of officials, and do not make it into the statistics", Rappe said.

Rappe, who focuses on crimes of corruption at the office of the Prosecutor General, wants more funding for the uncovering and investigation of crimes of corruption.
A report by the anti-corruption organisation Transparency International recently found that Finland to be one of the three least corrupt countries in the world.
Rappe says that he has certain reservations about the study, even though he agrees that the problem of corruption in Finland is among the world’s smallest.

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/State+ ... 5223352163

[sunny1011]

The myth of Finnish incorruptibility

By Anni Lassila

An often-repeated quotation believed to date back to the 1970s, and attributed to Nokia director Harry Mildh, states that "there is no person so insignificant as to not be worth bribing."
Omega seems to remember exactly whether or not Mildh ever really said this, but in any case the quotation reflects the zeitgeist of the 1970s and 1980s, when bribery in all of its forms was commonplace.
Construction companies and political parties struck deals on zoning decisions and political donations. Contracts linked with the Helsinki Metro project were lubricated with the help of opulent hospitality and German marks.
The times were right for greased palms. Finland had risen from poverty to join the ranks of the developed countries, and there was much construction going on and many large public projects.
Both civil servants - who were used to secure jobs with modest pay - and politicians were tempted to grab a share of the prosperity.
One factor in the equation was that although bribery of a civil servant has been a crime since the 19th century, the official definition of a civil servant has been very narrow. The law did not apply to people working in a state office under an ordinary labour contract.

For years, Finland has been at the top of the list maintained by Transparency International of the world's least corrupt countries. So we are incorruptible.
However, the problem with these comparisons is that corruption manifests itself in so many forms. The TI report mainly tells us that the Finnish civil service is no longer bribe-driven.
The report does not reveal how Finnish companies operate abroad, or how much corruption takes place in Finland that is considered acceptable in the eyes of the law.
"Structural corruption is a much greater problem than bribery. Especially municipal trustees often operate in a questionable manner and contrary to the common good on the basis of their personal contacts", says Pekka Viljanen, Professor of Criminal and Procedural Law at the University of Turku.

While it has long been illegal to bribe a municipal civil servant, election campaign donations are legal, and they do not even have to be disclosed if an individual donation is less than EUR 1,700.
There are considerable economic interests involved in the use of land by local authorities. Whose land is to be zoned for a recreational area? Which retail chain is to be granted the right to build a hypermarket?
It remains unclear what politicians can get in return for their decisions. The reward can be campaign fund money, a job, or a better social position.
Old-boy networks that resemble corruption also flourish in a country where nearly everyone knows each other.

...

[sunny1011]

Finns would nevertheless like to believe the Transparency International report, and that Finnish companies follow all of the rules when they do business.
The bribery scandal that emerged in Siemens not long ago was a rude awakening to many. Former and present employees of the prestigious German electronics manufacturer have spoken in police interrogations of systematic transfers of funds to bribe accounts - a practice that has continued for years. This was used to grease the palms of buyers of telecommunications networks - especially in developing countries.
Examples can be found closer to home as well. In one case that was made public, Wärtsilä and Instrumentarium have at the very least turned a blind eye to obvious bribery in their foreign dealings.
Wärtsilä gave a million-euro shipping line discount not to the shipping line in question, but rather into the private bank account of a company director.
In the last decade, in the sale of hospital equipment to Costa Rica, Instrumentarium used an agent who spent nearly nine million US dollars in bribes to local officials and politicians.

Bribe money is typically circulated through various fees paid to intermediaries and consultants. Corruption consultant Leila Mustanoja, the vice chair of the Finnish section of Transparency International, feels that people can no longer plead ignorance, pay money to a consultant, and close their eyes.
"Alarm bells should go off whenever a contract for the services of an agent or consultant, or for subcontracting gets drawn up. Bills must be documented in detail, and every item that is paid for must actually exist", Mustanoja says.
In the case of Wärtsilä, charges were dropped in both the lower court and in the court of appeals. The investigation into the Instrumentarium case is still ongoing.

But is it possible to succeed in a developing country without resorting to bribery?
Stockmann is often mentioned as an example of how the tough line works. Stockmann has expanded into Russia, and has systematically refused to pay bribes at all levels of the complicated bureaucracy there.
The policy has worked so far. However, the week before last it emerged that the construction of the company's department store in St. Petersburg has unexpectedly been singled out for attention by officials there. It was not said if the problems were caused by the company's anti-bribery stance.
Marko Taskila, who works as a consultant in India, and who has dealt with Finnish companies there as well, says that Nordic companies distinguish themselves in India by actually acting according to their anti-corruption declarations. He says that in India, paying bribes can make it easy to deal with many things, which would go slowly otherwise.
"It is my experience that Finnish companies prefer to wait", Taskila says.

Large international companies take the corruption problem seriously. Ericsson and Nokia, who work in the same telecommunications networking field as Siemens, have unyielding rules.
For instance, Ericsson uses the international Trace organisation to audit the bookkeeping of all of its agents. Trace is specialised in uncovering shady payments.
However, in recent years the company's activities have come under scrutiny in Sweden, but all suspicions of bribery and tax evasion were overturned in court in early December.
Nokia reports that it carefully scrutinises the invoicing of its agents, and that it uses go-betweens as little as possible. The company's financial administration is also completely global, which means that authorised individuals can check up on monetary transfers in any country from a desk in the the head offices in Espoo.
Both companies also point out that especially in the field of mobile networks, customers today - even in developing countries - are almost always private companies, which do not tolerate bribing of their employees.

Distinguishing between the private and public sectors is important in the corruption debate. Civil servants use money that is common to everyone, which means that responsibility can more easily fall into a grey area. Private companies, on the other hand, are more vigilant, and make sure that acquisitions are made on the basis of business sense, and not to promote the personal interest of the individual responsible for buying.
Bribing a civil servant is punishable in Finland regardless of whether or not the bribe is paid in a country where it is not criminalised. Bribery in business, on the other hand, is not punishable in Finland, if it is legal in the target country.

Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 11.2.2007

[sunny1011]

Die EU prüft die Finanzierung von Werbekampagnen der politischen Parteien, da diese einzig nicht offengelegt sind (wie andere Finanzangelegeheiten in Fin, wie z.B. die Verdienste und Steuern der Bürger, die für jeden einsehbar sind, etc). Da es neuerdings Schlagzeilen über Unstimmigkeiten gab, betrachtet die Antikorruptionsarbeitsgruppe GRECO den Stand der Dinge und die Erfüllung der EU Richtlinien.

European inspectors examine openness of Finnish political party financing
GRECO anti-corruption group arrives in Finland

Are citizens given information on where political parties get their money and how MPs finance their election campaigns? Do officials monitor campaign financing efficiently enough? How should legislation on monitoring the financing be reformed?
A group of inspectors from the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO), the anti-corruption body of the Council of Europe, will look for answers to questions such as these during their visit to Finland, which began on Wednesday.

During its three-day visit to Helsinki, the group is meeting with representatives of political parties, the National Bureau of Investigation, various organisations and unions, as well as journalists. Greco conducts such inspections regularly in member states of the council.
"We compare our observations with recommendation drafted by the Council of Europe on the openness of party financing. All member countries are committed to the guidelines", says the head of the group, Björn Janson, deputy head of the secretariat of Greco.
Under the guidelines, the financing of political parties and election campaigns must be regulated in such a way that bribery is not possible.

The inspectors did not want to comment on their observations on the Finnish system on Wednesday. They will detail the observations of possible problems that they find in party financing in a report to be published at the end of the year. Finland will have 18 months to implement any recommendations.
Janson said that the arrangements for the visit have worked well, and the group is getting to meet the experts that it wanted to. He said that the challenge in the inspection is that politicians have an interest in party financing.
"We must nevertheless reach as objective a view as possible on the matter."
Under Finland's government policy programme, Finland's election campaign financing will be examined on the basis of the Greco report. Campaign financing has raised a certain amount of debate in Finland in recent weeks; in spite of legislation regulating campaign donations, Members of Parliament have not specified the sources of their campaign funding. Information on the sources of party funding are also not available to the public.
Another group of Greco inspectors visited Finland early in the week, examining the effectiveness of anti-bribery legislation.

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Europe ... 5228018170

[sunny1011]

Es hat nicht direkt mit Korruption zu tun, sondern vielmehr mit EU-Wettbewerbsrecht, denn ein Anti-Trust Verfahren wurde zunächst von der lokalen Behörde (Kilpailuvirasto) über die finnische Pharmaindustrie eingeleitet. Die Behörde erhebt zunächst Informationen von den Apotheken. Lt. Helsingin Sanomat finden zwischen grossen, finnischen Pharmakonzernen Werbeabsprachen mit Apotheken, damit ihre Medizinpräparate bevorzugt verkauft werden. Dass es jeden Wettbewerb und Wahlmöglichkeiten der Kunden ausschliesst, sowie die schon eh unverschämten Preise, die man in Finnland grösstenteils selbst bezahlt, in die Höhe treibt, dürfte wohl klar sein. Davon kann auch ein EU-Anti-Trust Verfahren nach Art. 81 und 82 des europäischen Wettbewerbsrechts eingeleitet werden.

Competition Authority Investigates Pharmacy Agreements with Drug Companies
Published 20.07.2007, 10.01 (updated 20.07.2007, 10.02)

The Finnish Competition Authority is investigating potentially unfair agreements between pharmacies and pharmaceutical firms.

The newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reports that the Competition Authority suspects the drug firms of paying excessive amounts for advertisements in pharmacies. In return, the pharmacies offer customers primarily products of the company paying for the advertisements.

The Competition Authority has requested data from several pharmacies over the issue.

YLE

[sunny1011]

Noch ein Anti-Trust Fall in der Tochtergesellschaft des finnischen chemieunternehmens Kemira. Es geht um Preisabsprachen im Bereich der Bleichmittel für die Papierindustrie in den Jahren 1994-2000. Die EU-Kommission erwartet eine Stellungnahme innerh. von 6 Wochen.

http://www.yle.fi/news/id66433.html

[sunny1011]

Finnland ist wieder an der Spitze des Transparency International Indexes, allerdings handelt es sich um den Grad der wahrgenommenen Korruption und nicht um die tatsächlich vorhandene Korruption. Es heisst ja Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Also glauben Finnen, dass es in ihrem Land kaum Korruption gibt. Alle skandinavischen Länder sind ebenfalls in der Top 10 aus 180 untersuchten Ländern.

Suomi arvioitiin taas vähiten korruptoituneeksi

Suomi on yhä maailman vähiten korruptoitunut maa. Transparency International -järjestön selvityksessä suomalaisviranomaisten arvioidaan yhdessä tanskalaisten ja uusiseelantilaisten kollegoidensa kanssa olevan vähiten alttiita lahjonnalle.

Toistuvista kärkisijoista huolimatta järjestö arvioi Suomen korruptiotilanteen hieman huonommaksi kuin aiemmin.

"Se johtunee pääosin muutamista viime vuosina julkisuuteen nousseista lahjusepäilyistä. Otsikoissahan ovat olleet niin Kansaneläkelaitoksen pääjohtajan oopperareissut kuin Vaasan kaupunginjohdon Saariselän matkat", sanoo Transparency Suomi -järjestön varapuheenjohtaja Antti Pihlajamäki.

Kaikki Pohjoismaat pääsevät 180 maan vertailussa kymmenen parhaan joukkoon. Ruotsi sijoittui jaetulle neljännelle sijalle, mutta itänaapuri Venäjä on vasta listan 143.

Talousmahdeista Yhdysvallat oli 20. sijalla ja Kiina ja Intia jakavat 72. sijan. Isoista euromaista Saksa on sijalla 16 ja Ranska 19.

Eniten korruptio rehottaa selvityksen mukaan Somaliassa ja Burmassa. Pahoin korruptoituneita maita vaivaavat usein konfliktit ja köyhyys, sillä vertailun häntäpäässä ovat myös Irak ja Afganistan.

Useat Afrikan maat taas näyttävät kyenneen kitkemään korruptiota, sillä ne ovat parantaneet sijoitustaan aiemmista vuosista.

EU-maista edistystä näyttäisi tapahtuneen Italiassa, Tšekissä ja Romaniassa.

Järjestö nostaa myös Viron ja Chilen esiin maina, jotka ovat suhteellisen köyhiä, mutta joissa korruptio ei silti rehota. Viro on listauksessa sijalla 20, kun esimerkiksi Latvia vasta sijalla 51.

Transparency Internationalin selvityksen taustalla on 14 kansainvälistä kyselyä. Arvioita kerättiin lähinnä liike-elämän edustajilta.

http://www.hs.fi/talous/artikkeli/Suomi ... 5230585391

Hier gibt es die aktuelle Tabelle:

http://www.transparency.org/policy_rese ... s/cpi/2007 (scroll) und regional fact sheets link (pdf regional)

EU Statistik:
1. Dänemark
2. Finnland
3. Schweden
4. Island
(...)
7. Schweiz
9. Norwegen
(...)
15. Österreich
16. Deutschland

Die letzten Plätze belegen in der EU Polen, Bulgarien und Rumänien. In der Gesamtstatistik ist es Somalia.