Transparency International Czech Republic: Overview 2021

ABOUT TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL CZECH REPUBLIC (TI CZ)

• We’re a non-governmental organization whose mission is mapping corruption in the Czech Republic and actively aiding in its prevention.
• We protect the public interest.
• We promote effective and responsible governance.
• We advance transparency, accountability, and integrity in the public and private sectors.
• We tackle corruption in all its forms and at all levels, from local issues to those that impact the whole nation.
• We are politically impartial and put great emphasis on our independence.
• Only we ourselves decide which cases, causes, and topics we will engage with.
• We are part of the Transparency International global network of non-governmental anti-corruption organizations, which has grown to over 100 national branches with an international secretariat in Berlin since its founding in 1993.

^{Team of the Transparency International Czech Republic | Source: Pavel Klůs}

2021 THROUGH THE EYES OF TI CZ

Our year in numbers:

• 10 permanent employees in the TI office (adjusted for FTE)
• 20 press releases published
• 14 projects, 6 of them international
• 35 cases of corruption brought to light
• 240 clients given free legal aid by our Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre
• 720 professionals and members of the general public trained

CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX (CPI) 2021

The Czech Republic scored 54 out of the maximum 100 points in the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index for the second year running and remained in 49th place, this time sharing it with Malta and Mauritius. The European Union (EU) average of 64 points remains out of reach for yet another year.  

^{The Czech Republic in The Corruption Perceptions Index 2021 | Source: Transparency International} 
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is published annually since 1995. In 2012, an improvement was made to the index’s methodology, allowing us to look back at the past decade and to compare the Czech Republic’s CPI results through the years and under changing governments. 

A comparison of the country’s results over the past ten years shows that the Czech Republic, after a slight drop under Petr Nečas’ (Civic Democratic Party – Občanská demokratická strana, ODS) leadership, has been gaining points since 2014, starting with the seven-month period under Jiří Rusnok’s caretaker government and continuing under Bohuslav Sobotka (Czech Social Democratic Party – Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD) cabinet. Overall, the Czech Republic has seen a 10-point growth in the years between 2012 and 2018. 

Since the year 2018, which marks the start of the second consecutive cabinet of Andrej Babiš (ANO 2011 – Action of Dissatisfied Citizens, Akce nespokojených občanů), a steady decrease in points can be observed. Between then and 2021, i.e. this year’s edition, the Czech Republic has lost five points in the CPI. 

What is the Corruption Perception Index?

The index scores countries according to perceived level of public and business secotr corruption on a scale of 0-100 (where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean). 

How are the scores calculated?

The scores are based on the results of expert surveys, in which respondents (be it individuals or organisations) evaluate, among other things, the ability of government institutions to suppress and sanction corruption, the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures, the extent of corruption in various areas of public administration, the degree of public sector transparency, the misuse of official position or public funds. 

Who conducts the surveys?

Independently of each other twelve international expert organizations conduct the surveys using thirteen different assessments (although not all countries are subject the full set of surveys). This data is then supplied to TI. 

A combination of these indices produces a final CPI score. 

TI CZ IN THE MEDIA

The Czech branch of Transparency International has long been one of the most cited anti-corruption NGOs in the Czech Republic. In 2021, we reached nearly 4,000 media citations across TV, radio, print and online news. Thanks to the media, new information and analysis produced by our experts is disseminated to the general public. 

This year we also launched the Stošestka podcast, our new communication channel, which delivered a total of 17 episodes touching on both local and global issues. We also released a digital educational miniseries „Corruption Immunology“, which introduced key anti-corruption topics to the general public in five episodes and cumulatively reached over 700,000 users on Facebook alone. In it we unpacked five essential themes: corruption, conflict of interest, whistleblowing, lobbying and tax havens. Each topic area was accompanied by three resources – a video, a podcast and an article. 

TI CZ has also long been dedicated to fighting money laundering. In cross-country comparisons, the Czech Republic is still lagging behind other countries in setting up effective anti-money laundering mechanisms. In order to better demonstrate the corrupt principle behind money-laundering to the general public, we created the educational game Laundro-Man. 

The specific facets of corruption associated with climate change mitigation and adaptation policies are mostly overlooked in Czech society and our organization remains the only actor advocating for better understanding and prevention in this area. That is why we also address the issue of so-called carbon corruption. 

We continue to grow in the digital space. Our main website transparency.cz and other TI CZ websites (transparentnivolby.cz, ruzovypatnik.cz, korupcniviceboj.cz, zapiskej.cz, nasipolitici.cz) were visited by over 400,000 unique users in 2021. We also continue to expand our social media reach and audience size. We are glad that you’re interested in what we do. Join us online not to miss essential news from the world of TI and corruption. Thank you for following us! 

A selection of media coverage of Transparency International Czech Republic in television broadcasting for 2021. 

OUR WORK IN 2021

Transparency International Czech Republic (TI CZ) is a non-governmental anti-corruption team working on large international as well as smaller regional corruption cases. We promote effective systemic solutions. We protect government budgets from misuse. We save our fellow citizens billions of crowns in public funds. Through our projects we educate the civil society, the state and the private sector on corruption. We provide free legal aid to the general public. Thanks to the network of Transparency International offices, we share our know-how globally, wherever it is needed. 

In 2021, we worked on a wide range of cases, anti-corruption legislation, projects, and issues.  

Cases 

At the forefront of the corruption cases we were involved in last year was the conflict of interest of the now former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO). We also surveyed the government project for the expansion of the Dukovany nuclear power plant, pointing out its lack of transparency. Among other things, we analysed the process of addressing the effects of transitioning away from coal within the framework of the Just Transition Fund, where billions at stake. Moreover, thanks to our initiative, the Czech Government approved a draft bill transforming the Road and Motorway Directorate into a state-owned enterprise called the Road and Motorway Administration. 

^{Andrej Babiš, former prime minister of the Czech Republic | Source: Ondřej Deml, ČTK} 

Anti-corruption legislation 

TI CZ has long been lobbying for comprehensive and effective anti-corruption legislation. In 2021, we actively advocated for the adoption of the Whistleblower Protection Act. We called attention to legal shortcomings regarding the Beneficial Ownership Register as well as the regulation surrounding trusts. 

Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC)

The Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre has been one of the central pillars of TI CZ for over a decade. In that time we have provided free legal assistance to thousands of clients in a variety of cases on both the regional and the national scale.  

ALAC is valuable not only in its direct assistance in specific cases, but equally in its ability to gain insight into the functioning of legislation through its contact with clients on the ground, which TI can then use to change or clarify legislation either by pushing for amendments or through the judicial process. 

Project activities 

As part of our Transparent Elections project, we monitored the electoral campaigns of parties in the 2021 Czech legislative election with regard to their funding and political marketing. 

^{TI CZ press conference: Publication of the monitoring results of pre-election campaigns to the Chamber of Deputies 2021 | Source: TI CZ}

In addition, we put Integrity Pacts – an internationally recognized tool for reducing corruption risks in public procurement and ensuring their transparent implementation – into practice in the Czech Republic.  

TI CZ also published the 2020 Defense Companies Anti-Corruption Index (Index protikorupční odolnosti zbrojních firem, IPOZF), which analysed public commitments to transparency and corruption reduction in a sample of 21 Czech defense companies. 

Last but not least, we have supported democratic values abroad since our work isn’t limited to the territory of the Czech Republic. For instance, in Serbia we help ensure fair and transparent political competition. In Kososvo we are helping to increase the transparency of political party funding.  In Vietnam, we are strengthening civil society by sharing skills in open data analysis. In Myanmar, we are helping to carve out and safeguard a space for the anti-corruption activities of NGOs in the local post-election landscape. 

FINANCE

Sources of income in 2021 

Fundraising and Donor Care 2021

 The Transparency International Club 2021

Expenditure 2021