Background:
According to the current Anti-Corruption report of the European Commission a full 93 percent of Romanians, agree that corruption is widespread in their home country. 25 percent of Romanians, the second highest percentage in the EU, have been asked or expected to pay a bribe in the past year, compared to the EU average of 4 percent. Small contributions such as unrequested tips or bribs can lead to better medical treatment, more meticulous police work, better grades, the receipts of public contracts as well as tax concessions and the bypassing of environmental regulations. Reasons for this widespread corruption are intransparent decisions of administrative bodies, ambiguous laws, disrespect for the rule of law in general, low salaries of state employed staff and the lack of a broad social movement fighting against such illegal behaviour. In addition to the issue of corruption, the doing business index of the Worldbank indicates great need for improvement in other areas such as protecting investors, paying taxes, dealing with construction permits and enforcing contracts. The condition of the business environment has lead to a deterioration of the moral climate in the Romanian economy and society.
Project description:
This intervention is concerned with sensitizing the working environment for the issues of business ethics (corruption, treatment of employees, environmental protection and tax compliance). As a first step Dr. Cosmin Pricop, priest and managing director of the Romanian newspaper Lumina and Hans Füller, former board member of the Wirtschaftsgilde (translation: Economy guild) analyze the current situation in Romania. Afterwards they are going to compose a series of articles and a produce a TV series dealing with business ethics . Those media outlets will then be published and broadcasted through the media channels of the Romanian Orthodox church to reach the business world and the civil society alike. Among other things these shows and articles will include a status quo analysis, interviews with experts and the promotion of success stories. The goal of this intervention is to create a more transparent and more supportive entrepreneurship in Galaţi that is in line with ethical standards.
Project activities:
- First article in Lumina news that gives overview of the status quo of business ethics in Romania
- Publish series of articles concerned with business ethics
- Broadcast TV series dealing with business ethics
- Organize panel discussion in Galati with stakeholders from church, public administration and economy