Risk of corruption in Norway to be explored

Norwegian minister Rigmor Aasrud wants to get more knowledge about how the country’s public administration is handling the risk of corruption. The Ministry of government administration, reform and church affairs is appropriating means for an investigative study by Transparency International on the risk of corruption in Norway. 

- Corruption has a destructive influence on a country’s economy, and a number of individual cases has shown that Norway is not free of corruption. For me as minister with the responsibility for government ethics, public procurement and the government’s employer policy it is of special importance to have knowledge about corruption and risk of corruption in the Norwegian civil service, Ms. Asrud says.

The study will shed light on the ability to handle risk of corruption in e.g. the executive, legislative and judicial power, in the public sector, political parties, media, the civil society and the business community. The purpose of the study is to promote consciousness on corruption risk, vulnerability and risk handling in important social institutions.
 
The study National Integrity System is part of a greater comparative study of risk of corruption in Europe. The Norwegian part of the study is carried out by NIBR, Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research. Responsible for the study is the Norwegian branch of Transparency International. The report will be finished in 2012.