EU accession bids mask widening corruption risks in candidate states
As the EU opens accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova, candidate countries are exploiting the legislative rush to sideline anti-corruption safeguards, posing financial crime risks for the bloc's future internal market.
The European Union has opened accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova after a two-year blockade by former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán was lifted. However, anti-corruption watchdogs warn that candidate countries across the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe are exploiting this legislative rush to bypass crucial transparency safeguards.
Governments are rapidly transposing EU directives into domestic law while skipping mandatory public consultation procedures. This excludes civil society organisations from the decision-making process precisely when scrutiny is most needed. In Georgia, this trend has coincided with the disappearance of numerous NGOs following a Tbilisi court's politically motivated decision last year to freeze the bank accounts of seven leading civil society groups.
Ukraine has introduced a new public procurement law to align with EU standards, but broader legislative progress has stalled. Oleksandra Misiura of Transparency International Ukraine noted that Kyiv previously used the Hungarian veto threat as a shield to delay necessary anti-corruption work. “Progress on anti-corruption reforms has been uneven and quite limited,” she said in Brussels on Wednesday. “We’ve had a halt in legislative initiatives being adopted by parliament, and the only impetus we could get for MPs to vote on certain laws was when they were linked to European integration.”
For European investors and businesses, this superficial compliance masks severe institutional vulnerabilities that threaten the future integrity of the single market. Financial crime remains a deeply entrenched problem in the accession pipeline. Albania, which is in advanced stages of negotiations, ranks 91st out of 182 countries globally on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, sitting well below the European regional average. Neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina ranks 109th, while Ukraine sits at 104th.
Redi Ametllari from the Institute for Democracy and Mediation highlighted that Albania struggles with disproportionate levels of illicit finance. “We have a huge problem with money laundering comparing to other countries in the region,” he said. Meanwhile, the Albanian government is actively using the pretext of EU integration to avoid consulting on new laws. “The government [is] arguing that when a law is required by the EU, there’s not much space to consult or negotiate anything in it,” said Daniel Prroni of independent fact-checking organisation Faktoje.
Enlargement commissioner Marta Kos has repeatedly stated that the rule of law must remain at the centre of accession reforms. Yet, watchdogs argue that the current trajectory rewards speed over substance, risking the import of systemic corruption into the bloc. “Enlargement cannot be treated as a box-ticking exercise, and should not reward formal compliance alone,” said Carolina Gil of Transparency International.
