Portugal – needs to do more
Another report from the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has been released and this time Portugal is in the hot seat and they will need to do more. And, like all reports from the Council of Europe it has some positive recommendations and some not so positive. On the one hand, Portugal has moved forward from 2015, when GRECO last looked at Portugal’s anti-corruption environment. GRECO noted that “[g]uidelines for MPs on the acceptance of gifts, travel and hospitality are now available online. Moreover, the Entity for Transparency, responsible for evaluating MPs’ declarations of income, assets and interests, is now operational, and the electronic platform on which MPs submit their single asset declarations is also operational. “ This is good news for transparency and shows that governments can provide easy to access tools. And yet, there are significant issues regarding parliamentarians, issues with conflicts of interest, as well as with the judiciary, focusing on ethics mechanisms. On balance, a developed country like Portugal should be a leader in anti-corruption.
What should be done next? Ten years on, GRECO notes that the level of compliance with the recommendations that were issued then are "globally unsatisfactory" and GRECO requests that the Portuguese authorities provide a report on the progress made in implementing the outstanding recommendations by 31 March 2026. This should be a wake up call to the government and should provide a way for the public and anti-corruption activists to remind the government that they need to not only answer to GRECO but to the people of Portugal. This could be worse, but it certainly should be better.
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