In addition to their widening financial woes, Italy and Greece appear to have some growing corruption issues.

In its 2011 Corruptions Perceptions Index, which measures perceived levels of corruption in the public sector, Transparency International ranked Italy 69 and Greece 80, compared with their 67 and 78 rankings in 2010. Those are the lowest scores among the 17-member eurozone.

The Berlin-based corruption watchdog believes the rising debt problems of these and other members of the common currency zone are partly to blame for the creeping corruption.

Among the lowest scoring eurozone countries, the group said in a statement, were those suffering from the bloc's debt crisis, caused in part by "public authorities' failure to tackle bribery and tax evasion."

Failure to raise revenue

Indeed, the sovereign-debt crisis in the eurozone has exposed the failure of its indebted members to raise revenue and tackle reforms. Both Greece and Italy have accumulated massive deficits over the past years, leading to bailouts for the Greek government and possibly the same for Italy as well.

Eurozone powerhouses Germany and France ranked 14 and 25 respectively - both showing improvements.

Croatia, which plans to sign the EU membership treaty soon, ranked slightly better than Italy at 66. It scored 4.0, down 0.1 points over the previous year, with 10 being the least corrupt and 1 the most.

At 86, Bulgaria ranked the lowest of the EU member states.

Denmark and Finland shared the second-best score in the world at 9.4, just behind New Zealand at 9.5, with North Korea and Somalia claiming the worst at 1 .

"This year, we have seen corruption on protesters' banners be they rich or poor," Transparency International said. "Whether in a Europe hit by a debt crisis or an Arab world starting a new political era, leaders must heed the demands for better government."

Author: John Blau
Editor: Stuart Tiffen