1. Corruption, the Unfinished Business of Europeanization in Romania

I shall begin this chapter with a brief analysis of corruption along with some general considerations that must be taken into account for future reform initiatives. This analysis was excellently done by Lucica Matei in her 2010 book, Public Administration in the Balkans—from Weberian bureaucracy to New Public Management. My analysis was also aided by the 2009 thesis, Corruption, an institutional approach. For an excellent and profound understanding along with case studies and examples, I highly recommend the above-mentioned works. Many authors and international publications point to the fact that Romania is one of the laggards in corruption reform in Europe (Frederick, 2008; Interior Minister Report, 2007; Lăzărescu, 2007; Negrescu, 1999; Pasti, 2004, 2006; Precupeţu, 2007; Ristei, 2010; Vachudova, 2009). The World Bank data, comparing Romania with its Central and Eastern European counterparts, ranks it at the bottom in all indicators, especially “Rule of Law” and “Control of Corruption” (World Bank & Kaufmann Report, 2006). Even if anticorruption initiatives have had a positive and significant impact, corruption still persists in the Romanian society in general and its public administration in particular.