Romania maintains a shameful place among most corrupt countries worldwide, the latest Transparency International report on global corruption says. Romania falls 84th worldwide in terms of corruption this year, with a minimal progress compared to 2005 and well behind Bulgaria.

That would make Romania the most corrupt EU member state, once it joins the Union in January next year.

The Corruption Perception Index used by TI is a criterion that ranks countries according to how corruption is perceived among officials and politicians in a given area. According to this criterion, Romania receives 3.1 points on the TI scale, where 1 means generalized corruption and 10 means “no corruption”. Romania received 3.0 points last year. It now places 84th among 163 countries included in the study.

The average CPI in EU member countries is of 7.71 and stays at 5.3 among the ten countries that joined the Union in 2004.

Bulgaria, a country that is about to join the EU along with Romania, received four points. Finland, Iceland and New Zeeland lead the top with 9.6 points.