An Unsuccessful EU Policy for Combating Corruption in Romania: How a flawed approach failed to eradicate corruption in the country and how the EU's present strategy may not be sustainable

Abstract

In this essay I argue that the European Union's flawed anti-corruption policy and its lack of understanding of the local elite have failed to eradicate corruption in Romania. First, I give a brief overview of Romania's deep-seated corruption problems. I then argue that the EU's lack of any decisive or single-minded blueprint for administrative reform made its anti-corruption measures ineffective. I explain how the EU profoundly underestimated the lengths to which Romania's corrupt politicians are willing to go to preserve the status quo, and end exploring the efficacy of top-down democratization for instituting meaningful democratic reform.