Michiel van Hulten and Transparency International (TI) are committed to counteracting corruption in the EU and around the world. Van Hulten directs the organization's Brussels' office, which has three pillars of engagement: political integrity of EU institutions, improvement of financial and business integrity, and upholding rule of law. Currently, his office is looking primarily at "Qatargate", which could play a central role in the upcoming EU parliamentary elections.

TI defines corruption as the "abuse of entrusted power for private gain." They recognize that combatting corruption means defending rights like freedom of the press, which is necessary to expose corrupt actors. Additionally, success in the fight against corruption requires an independent judiciary capable of convicting perpetrators. Therefore, while their work always begins and ends with corruption itself, TI recognizes the importance of work on these adjacent fields that are critical to reducing levels of corruption.

Van Hulten identifies a few types of corruption issues within the EU, arguing it is first and foremost an institutional rather than individual level problem. The decision-making processes for these institutions do not always meet transparency levels expected from a public trust. Additionally, the appointments process for senior positions has become so deeply associated with an even distribution between nationalities or political backgrounds that people no longer recognize such a process as being inherently corrupt and certainly not very inclusive. Finally, the EU is newer than many national institutions and has not had the decades of legitimacy-building from which national institutions benefit. For this reason, scandals such as Qatargate have larger impacts than they might at the national level.

Qatargate is a particularly grave scandal for the EU, being highly visible and damaging. However, van Hulten sees it as a potential opportunity for the EU to reform many of the existing problems that contributed to the scandal in the first place. He believes the EU should use this event to show voters that it is capable of reform and deserving of trust. To do so, the Parliament should expand its whistle-blower protections and increase transparency measures around allowances to its members, among other measures to be taken.

Van Hulten also discussed the EU accession process for Ukraine, which has previously ranked poorly for corruption. He explained that prevention is the most important way of dealing with corruption in Ukraine, and can be accomplished via education, training of law enforcement, and building a culture in which corruption is unacceptable. He acknowledges the strict standards a country must meet to accede to the EU and welcomes enforcement of those procedures in Ukraine, as enforcement will help bring about necessary reforms. However, Ukraine must avoid allowing the current war to provide a screen behind which it can hide corruption.

Michiel van Hulten views corruption as a contributor to many other critical societal problems. For example, in a less corrupt Turkey, perhaps buildings affected by the recent earthquake would have been in better compliance with anti-seismic measures, saving thousands of lives. He and his organization attempt to tackle corruption in the EU and around the world to improve such problems and avoid destructive scandals such as Qatargate.

European and Eurasian Studies Series

hosted by Professor Michael Leigh


The Director of Transparency International, Brussels, and a former Member of the European Parliament, shares his assessment of the EU's fight against corruption in the context of the Ukraine war, and the widening cash-for-influence scandal involving investigations into the role of Qatar, Morocco and others.

Michiel Van Hulten has been the Director of Transparency International EU since 2019. He is a former official, politician and consultant with over 20 years' experience of EU policy, campaigns and communications. From 2012 to 2014 he was managing director of VoteWatch Europe, the organisation that monitors the decision-making processes of the EU institutions. From 1999 to 2004 he was a Member of the European Parliament, and before that he was an official with the EU Council of Ministers. Throughout his career, Van Hulten has specialised in issues around democracy, transparency, accountability and citizenship. He holds Master's degrees in politics and public administration from the London School of Economics and the College of Europe in Bruges.