Portugal fell nine places in the perception rate of corruption 2024 and obtained its worst result ever, “particularly driven by the perception of abuse of public positions for private benefits,” in cases such as ‘Operation Influencer’.
The International Transparency Index, published since 2012 and in which Portugal has been in “Continuous Decline since 2015”, puts Portugal in 43rd position among the 180 countries evaluated, nine places below 34th position of 2023, with 57 points in one 0 (highly corrupt states) to 100 (high integrity of states in combating corruption).
In the index, Portugal shares 43rd place with Botswana and Rwanda, but is better placed than European partners such as Spain and Italy.
“Portugal’s descent was driven by the deterioration of evaluations from various sources used in the calculation of this index. The decline was particularly driven by the perception of abuse of public positions for private benefits and weaknesses in the mechanisms of public integrity to avoid this abuse, ”reads the Portuguese transparency statement on national results in the global index.
“Portugal’s performance was one of the worst in Western Europe, with a four -point drop in scoring and the loss of nine positions in the global ‘ranking’, the organization highlights.
Among the factors that contributed to the degradation of Portugal’s position is, according to International Transparency Portugal (TI Portugal), a negative assessment of the country’s effectiveness in combating corruption, functioning of public institutions and application of the law.
Other factors are a fragile application of the anti -corruption law and supervision of the public sector, “including gaps in the prevention of conflicts of interest and the declaration of property by politicians”; and even situations of nepotism, political favoritism and lack of transparency in party funding.
Ti Portugal also points to the “below the European average” classification regarding the perception of corruption in the public sector and refers “recent scandals, such as ‘Operation Influencer’” as justification for “increasing corruption perception in the links between politics and business ”.
The organization also states “persistent weaknesses in the fight against corruption” and warns that, despite new legal mechanisms, “international perception indicates that implementation and supervision remain short of the necessary.”
“There are recognized failures in the implementation of the government’s anti -corruption strategy, as well as lack of resources to monitor the executive. Portugal now has the challenge of demonstrating concrete progress in implementing reforms, to prevent its position from continuing to deteriorate in the coming years and to regain international confidence in the integrity of its public sector ”, reads in the statement of IT Portugal .
Cited in the statement, the president of the Portuguese representation of IT, Margarida Mano, stresses that the results “serve as a warning to the reputational damage that Portugal is suffering from having no effective action in the fight against corruption”.
“The worst result ever is due to a cumulative component. Portugal has identified structural problems that are not corrected, with impact and wear over time, revealing lack of political commitment and low effectiveness in the developed actions, ”argues Margarida Mano in the statement.
The official also identifies conjunctural circumstances, such as Operation Influencer, “with an impact on the perception of integrity in the public sector, which contribute to this result.”
“The way to improve Portugal’s reputation in combating corruption is just one: to make the effective commitment and act.”
Ti Portugal argues that “lack of clarity and political commitment” in anti -corruption strategy, that “lacks concrete goals, conviction and political commitment”, and lacks speed in court, appealing to procedural acceleration, simplification of megaprocesses and combating dilatory expedients and the prescription for procedural delays.
It also says that there is a lack of supervision, asking for tools for greater transparency and scrutiny in the public sector, as well as regulating ‘lobbying’, a measure that is foreseen under the anti -corruption agenda of the current executive.
TI Portugal argues that organisms such as the entity for transparency and the National Anti -Corruption Mechanism (Menac) must have a financial reinforcement and budgetary autonomy that ensures an “effective and independent” performance.
“Finally, the control of heritage and income from politicians must be more rigorous. To avoid conflicts of interest and ensure full public administration, it is essential to strengthen the impediment regime, increase transparency in selection criteria to public office and combat the phenomenon of “revolving doors” between political and private sectors ”, reads in communication.
The corruption perception index (CPI, in the English acronym) was created in 1995 and reviewed in 2012 to allow comparisons of the annual evolution, consisting of sources of corruption analysis developed by other independent organizations to evaluate corruption levels in public sector.
“The (transparency and integrity, civic association) is the Portuguese representative Transparency International, a global anti-corruption coalition present in more than 100 countries, and is dedicated to the investigation, law and awareness of the causes and consequences of corruption and poor governance”, according to the presentation of TI Portugal.
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