Portugal delaying the fight against corruption, Europe's anti-graft watchdog says

A leading European anti-graft monitoring body stated on Wednesday that Portugal has lagged behind in putting new anti-corruption measures into place, raising fresh questions about the transparency of business deals backed by the government. The Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), a division of the Council of Europe, which serves as the primary rights watchdog in Europe, released its report on Portugal after evaluating it for the fifth time in 2017. The country will hold a snap general election on March 10 after Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned in November amid an investigation into alleged irregularities in his administration’s handling of several significant investment projects. Costa has refuted any misconduct. GRECO said that although Portugal had “developed an extensive anti-corruption legal and institutional framework … there have been noticeable delays in the effective implementation and monitoring of the rules in place in many areas”. “Neither the National Anti-Corruption Mechanism nor the Entity for Transparency is yet fully operational,” it said, calling for integrity vetting for people joining the government, post-employment restrictions and more transparency in government contacts with lobbyists and third parties. The government’s code of conduct had to be complemented by proper guidance, especially regarding conflicts of interest and gifts, and by a mechanism of supervision and sanction, it said. Whistleblower mechanisms needed to be established within law enforcement agencies that require more transparency in the way they are managed and disclose their information. (with inputs from reuters)