Across the 27-member European Union, an average of 70 percent of citizens consider corruption to be widespread in their countries.

Similarly, most companies (65 percent) think corruption is widespread with favouritism in public institutions the most common practice of corruption in the EU, according to the results of a survey released Wednesday by the European Commission.

The survey was conducted on citizens' and businesses' attitudes towards corruption in the EU. The results show that a growing majority of Europeans consider corruption to be unacceptable.

Europeans are increasingly sceptical about efforts to address corruption. 67% of respondents believe that high-level corruption cases are not sufficiently pursued, and 60% do not think that government efforts to combat corruption are effective.

The European Commission in a statement said it has recently taken decisive action to fight corruption in the EU and worldwide.

With the anti-corruption proposals presented on 3 May, the EU's executive body said it will build on measures in place and strengthen efforts to integrate the prevention of corruption into the design of EU policies and programs.

Source: Kuwait News Agency