The Spanish government approves the anti-corruption plan promised in the Cerdán case

MadridThe Spanish government is taking another step toward fulfilling its promise, made in the wake of the Santos Cerdán case, to eradicate corruption in institutions and businesses. The Council of Ministers on Tuesday gave its first approval (meaning the legislative process has barely begun) to the draft organic law on public integrity, which, among other things, tightens controls on donations to political parties, as well as increasing the penalties of disqualification and bans on participating in public procurement for companies involved. In addition to parties and businesses, the focus is also on the public administration. This measure stems from an agreement between the two partners in Spain's coalition government, the PSOE and Sumar, after the name of the former number three of the PSOE was implicated in an alleged corruption case. In fact, in parallel with this legislation, Pedro Sánchez's government has approved the law on interest groups or lobbyists (currently being processed in Congress). The open administration law (pending return to the Council of Ministers) and the criminal procedure law (also in parliamentary process). All of these, together with Tuesday's reform, complete the Anti-Corruption Plan announced by Sánchez last summerGovernment sources explain. The underlying, and quite ambitious, objective is to prevent the misuse of public funds and ensure that every stolen cent is returned to the public treasury.

The reform includes 84 measures that seek to address "the entire cycle of corruption," as explained by the First Vice President and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, at a press conference this Tuesday.

New Public Integrity Agency

To begin with, an "independent" Public Integrity Agency is being created, which will assume the functions of "prevention, supervision, and prosecution" of any corrupt practice. This new agency will combine the roles of the current Office of Conflicts of Interest, the Whistleblower Protection Authority, and the National Anti-Fraud Coordination Service. The latter will have a president appointed through a public process and with the approval of Congress. Furthermore, it will be the highest authority in Spain for "protecting the European Union's financial interests against fraud."

New technologies

New technologies will play a key role in preventing corruption. The law stipulates improved information sharing through database connectivity; the digitization of expenditure records from the State Comptroller's Office; the adaptation of technologies to automatically detect potential conflicts of interest; and the use of artificial intelligence to modernize the Public Procurement Platform and the National Grants Database.

Control in political parties

Regarding political parties, the control and transparency of donations they receive, as well as those received by their foundations, will be strengthened. The threshold for publishing individual donations will be reduced from €25,000 to €2,500, and they will have to report these donations individually within a maximum of one month. Furthermore, the law will require them to undergo external and independent audits of their accounts.

Education for Public Administration

With regard to public administration, the law mandates training for senior officials and public employees, institutional awareness campaigns, mandatory risk maps (public administrations will have to periodically identify where fraud may occur and what measures they take to prevent it), and independent internal audit units.

Blacklist of companies

A public and accessible "blacklist" of corrupt companies will be created: companies convicted of corruption, fraud, bribery, or money laundering will be prohibited from continuing to hold contracts with the government (the maximum disqualification period for contracting or receiving public funds will be increased from 15 to 20 years). This is one of the major challenges of the legislation—a similar measure is included in the current public procurement law, which experts have criticized for its loopholes. Furthermore, corporate transparency will be strengthened so that the ownership of a company (and its subsidiaries) can be easily traced. In this regard, the aim is to make it more difficult to use corporate structures through which corrupt practices are channeled. Finally, another change in the criminal sphere is the extension of the statute of limitations for corruption offenses, from five to seven years. "The objective is to prevent the statute of limitations from generating impunity for corrupt individuals," the Spanish government stated.

The Cerdán case, also linked to former Socialist minister José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García, fueled the right and far right in their efforts to undermine Pedro Sánchez. It also created a significant rift in the relationship between the PSOE and Sumar, as well as with the other parties in the investiture bloc. Now the Spanish government will need them if it wants the legislation to pass.

The central government plans to bring the reform back to a cabinet meeting before the summer. Afterward, it would go to Congress. During this period, it may undergo modifications, according to government sources, who point out that the public consultation process now underway allows for input from bodies such as the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ).