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Political Finance in Europe: What Makes Transparency Enforcement So Tricky? – Data Story
Nicolas Soto Troncoso and Sofia Angeli In January 2026, the 11th Conference of the States Parties (CoSP) to the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) adopted resolution 11/7 on preventing and combating corruption by enhancing transparency in the funding of political parties, electoral candidatures, and campaigns. The resolution, the first of its kind dedicated to Article…
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Epstein Files: Why is Europe More Affected than the US? – Data Story
Alina Mungiu Pippidi First and foremost, people can legitimately ask: what good are the corruption indexes — the CPI, the IPI, and the rest — if it seems that number 10 (US) exercises undue influence over corrupt officials in number 2 (Norway) and number 18 (UK, which in the IPI has already backslid next to…
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How is Russia’s War Reshaping the European Far-Right? – New Publication
A new paper by Adam Holesch and the IBEI-BridgeGap team follows the positions of Russia of European parties. In the early phase of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, political unity in the European Parliament reached unusually high levels. Supporting Ukraine became the dominant norm, and deviating from it carried significant reputational and electoral costs. However,…
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Qatar Gate, a Missed Opportunity for Public Opinion as Well as Justice – New Publication
A new study by the BridgeGap team at the University of Perugia shows that the social media landscape around QatarGate was not fundamentally different from the era dominated by traditional media. Institutional actors — political and media alike — contributed to producing a biased and, at times, instrumentalized narrative on social platforms.Once again, the main…
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EU Funding in time of crisis: Is there a trade-off between swiftness and accountability?
Massimo Privitera, University of Antwerp The pattern has become drearily predictable: the European Union creates massive funding mechanisms to address pressing crises, only to see them become breeding grounds for fraud and corruption. As new allegations emerge about misused recovery funds, Brussels now proposes yet another instrument – the Security and Defence Facility (SAFE) –…
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DATA STORIES: The Nord Stream Case Study: A Deep Dive into Energy, Geopolitics, and Infrastructure
The Nord Stream case study explores the project in detail, shedding light on the multifaceted political, environmental, and economic implications that accompany such a massive and strategically sensitive initiative.
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DATA STORIES: The MOSE scandal in Venice
Stefano Pirani Venice, the Italian city known for its romantic canals, carnival celebrations and over-tourism, is sinking. It has been battling the rising tides of the Adriatic Sea for centuries, and its own weight is pushing it down. In a desperate attempt to safeguard its “palazzi” along the “Canal Grande”, its infinite little “calli” and…
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DATA STORIES: Corruption in Ghana: The Cecilia Dapaah Case
Annalaura Viganò In July 2023, Ghana was rocked by the revelation of a corruption scandal involving Cecilia Dapaah, the former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources. This case attracted public attention due to the high profile of the accused and the startling sums of money involved. At the heart of this scandal are allegations of…