Corruption is more than just an ethical failure. It is a threat to democracy, trust and equality. At a time when the United States is retreating from its major anticorruption commitments by dismantling key safeguards like the foreign corrupt practices act and by scaling back the programs of the U.S. agency for international development supporting anti-corruption institutions, Europe’s leadership is more important than ever.
Nowhere is this global tension more sharply felt than in Ukraine. Amid a brutal war on its very survival, Ukraine is setting a powerful example by advancing landmark anti-corruption reforms, ranging from electronic asset declaration system, banking and public procurement to a broad digitalisation of public services.
Europe has long been at the forefront of the fight against corruption, reinforcing its position as one of the least corrupt regions in the world. The new European directive on combatting corruption currently under negotiations offers a critical opportunity to build on this legacy. But to be effective on a global scale, policies need reliable, comprehensive data which are the key to uncovering the hidden networks that fuel corruption across borders and helps identify the vulnerabilities within even the most open and transparent societies.
To chart the path toward effective, data-informed anti-corruption policies, the BridgeGap research initiative and the Lisbon Council are convening a High-Level Policy Roundtable on Europe: Guarding Integrity with Data-Driven Action Against Corruption, a special gathering of leading voices in the anti-corruption space taking place on Thursday, 05 June 2025 from 10h30 to 12h30 CEST in the Residence Palace (Rue de la Loi 155, 1040 Brussels, Belgium), followed by a reception at the same venue until 13h30.
This high-level roundtable will also serve as the official launch of a new data-oriented research paper by BridgeGap dedicated to the corruption risks across different European Union Member States
| If you would like to attend the policy roundtable, please send an RSVP to evgenia.malikova[at]lisboncouncil.net with “Guarding Integrity Roundtable” in the subject heading. Only registered participants will have access to the venue. |
Speakers:
Anastasia Radina, Member of Parliament and Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Anti-corruption Policy, Ukraine Parliament
Marie-Hélène Boulanger, Head of Unit, Democracy, Anti-corruption, Union Citizenship and Free Movement, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission
Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Principal Investigator, BridgeGap and Professor, LUISS Guido Carli
Lucio Picci, Professor of Economics, University of Bologna
Kristian Lasslett, Researcher, Institute for Futures Studies and Professor of Criminology, Ulster University