European Transparency Map

As a result of the confidence gap in the European Union (EU) between governing bodies and citizens, this research proposes to examine the possibility of measuring transparency in 25 EU Members States to find out if they are
close to reaching the transparency objective and openness towards citizens.

To answer the question "Is it possible to measure transparency in the
EU?" the author proposes a statistical index called the European Transparency
Index (ETI). The ETI is proposed as a means to draw the transparency map of the EU by measuring
transparency in all member states and comparing the results.

The ETI summarizes 3 indicators of transparency: the member states' legislation concerning
access to documents, the press freedom in Europe as measured by the Reporters Without Borders fourth annual World Press Freedom Index, and the degree of disclosure in published data about
farm subsidy payments of the Common Agricultural Policy CAP.

Giving numerical value to each of the three indicators, the ETI calculates a statistical tranparency indicator for each EU member state. A map illustrates the results with states shaded to show high, medium and low transparency groups.

In her conclusion, the author takes the stance that, due to mixed transparency results from member states analysed through the ETI, disclosure of beneficiaries of community funds in the EU is needed to increase transparency. The author proposes collecting the following data for publication in plain, clear language in a central website: project name, contributing partners, amount of grant, objective evaluation results, goals achieved, and locations, as well as names of companies whose goods were used in projects.
She supports increased transparency through monitoring, data publication, increasing citizen participation, and placing transparency obligations in all European programs and policies,