The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has called on Portugal to improve the effectiveness of its system to promote integrity and prevent corruption in the top executive functions of the central government and in law enforcement agencies.
In a 5th evaluation round report (link), released today, GRECO recognises that Portugal has developed an extensive anti-corruption legal and institutional framework, but the effectiveness of this framework depends heavily on the National Anti-Corruption Mechanism and the Entity for Transparency becoming fully operational, which is not yet the case. All persons with top executive functions should be subject to effective integrity checks before joining the Government, as well as to post-employment restrictions, and they should be obliged to file declarations of assets and interests.
The report also calls for improvements regarding public consultation processes and people’s access to public information. Another issue of concern to GRECO is the transparency of contacts between top executive officials and lobbyists and other third parties, which requires further development.
As regards the Public Security Police and the National Republic Guard, the authorities need to take measures to achieve transparent and objective recruitment procedures at managerial level, to increase the representation of women at all levels in these services and to establish internal whistleblowing mechanisms.
In addition, the integrity vetting of law enforcement officials has to be strengthened and applied at regular intervals. Integrity standards, especially as regards outside activities, as well as the oversight and disciplinary regimes, require bolstering. Access to public information also needs to be improved in these law enforcement authorities. Finally, donations and sponsorships must be better regulated to increase their transparency and address risks of conflicts of interest.
GRECO will assess the implementation of the 28 recommendations addressed to Portugal in 2025 through its compliance procedure.
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The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) is a Council of Europe body that aims to improve the capacity of its members to fight corruption by monitoring their compliance with anti-corruption standards. GRECO helps states to identify deficiencies in national anti-corruption policies, prompting the necessary legislative, institutional and practical reforms. Currently, it comprises the 46 Council of Europe member states, Belarus*, Kazakhstan and the United States of America.
* Representation limited as per the decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe of 17 March 2022
** unofficial translation, as provided by the authorities of Portugal
