Is Spain fighting corruption?

MadridThe constant accusations between the main Spanish parties related to corruption occupy the majority of the public debate on this scourge. In recent months, the PP and PSOE have not come closer to discussing how to prevent the repetition of cases that have affected them, such as those of Montoro or Cerdán, but rather have further distanced themselves from the possibility of working together to curb these practices. "We should all sit down and work and stop pointing fingers at each other," argues the executive director of Transparency International in Spain, David Martínez, in an interview with ARA. The organization has prepared a report with 100 recommendations to combat corruption, in which it analyzes the state plan that Pedro Sánchez presented on July 9 after the scandal broke out involving the man who, until then, was his number three in the party. "The first thing we need is [political] unity," concludes Martínez, who points out that "using corruption as a weapon demonstrates an insufficient level of democratic maturity."

In the opinion of Transparency International Spain, the series of measures proposed by the Spanish Prime Minister is a "first major step" with "very important measures," but there is an underlying problem. Sánchez "is taking advantage of a window of opportunity in a positive way," but it is precisely this rush to the scandal that has prevented a "solid and complete" diagnosis from being made, Martínez points out. The organization's first recommendation is to develop a state anti-corruption strategy—prepared by a group of experts—that provides a "holistic" vision to solve the system's flaws. The organization dedicated to fighting corruption urges us to overcome the dynamic followed until now, which is to adopt initiatives without a comprehensive vision and that never quite take off due to a lack of resources and funding. "There is a part of the current anti-corruption framework that is not being complied with," Martínez emphasizes.

A half-baked architecture

"Before thinking about artificial intelligence, big data and in matters that may be more innovative [...] we must guarantee basic minimums in anti-corruption," reflects the director of Transparency International in Spain on one of the elements of Sánchez's plan, which consists of incorporating "new tools" into the public sector contracting platform. Recently, the Spanish president announced the "imminent" launch of this measure. The organization, to amend the "deficits in the implementation" of the state law for the protection of corruption whistleblowers approved in early 2023. "Spain has not yet fulfilled its obligation to establish an adequate and comprehensive framework of external reporting channels, which leaves a considerable area of unprotectedness throughout the national territory, especially in those autonomous communities."

The recently formed Independent Whistleblower Protection Authority should be in charge, which, according to Transparency International, "still does not have its own budget to fulfill its mandate." In an interview with ARA A couple of months ago, its new president, Manuel Villoria, acknowledged its limitations, aggravated by the lack of state budget: "We still haven't opened the external channel because there are three of us in this Authority and that would be irresponsible." The objective, said Villoria, was to get the machinery up and running in November. "90% of the major corruption scandals have been uncovered by a whistleblower," notes Martínez, who warns that not having this channel well developed implies the "risk that there are people who are not reporting because they are afraid" of being unprotected.

In the case of Catalonia, the Anti-Fraud Office is indeed protecting the whistleblower, but those involved have complaints about how it is working due to a lack of resources. In fact, the Catalan government just has just approved the preliminary report of the draft of law to protect whistleblowers in Catalonia.

Who should control?

Another of Sánchez's announcements was the creation of a Public Integrity Agency that would be "independent" and would act as a "central body for prevention, oversight, and planning in the area of corruption." Transparency International urges us to consider whether this is the model that "best suits the country" and to carefully analyze whether there is no overlap of functions with other agencies. "Until a national authority is established that guarantees a solid and comprehensive integrity framework in the public service, it is recommended that the Conflict of Interest Office be urgently strengthened by granting it functional autonomy [currently attached to the Ministry of Public Administration], a sufficient budget, and effective powers to verify declarations, a transition" consisting of giving "full capacity" to existing authorities while the entire evaluation and harmonization process of the system is carried out.

The Other Fronts

"There are a number of areas that have not yet been strengthened or that have not been taken into account," notes Martínez, who points to the system's shortcomings as establishing "a solid framework" for preventing corruption in public companies or regulating interest groups, known as lobbyists. On this last point, there is a law pending in Congress that remains in a drawer and that Transparency International is urging its "urgent" approval with the introduction of improvements. The organization's director admits that "there will always be risks" because no measure is "infallible," but that "the more risk areas you mitigate, the more difficult it will be for them to materialize." In any case, he reassures that despite the scandals that so frequently make headlines, "there is no widespread systemic corruption in Spain."