Transparency International Portugal (TIP) is calling the government out for corruption ‘fudge and waffle’.
Essentially, the watchdog is contesting assertions made by the Ministry of Justice on the assessment of anti-corruption policies in Portugal – and criticising the absence of a new National Anti-Corruption Strategy (which should already be in place).
In a statement regarding the Ministry’s reaction to the nation’s abysmal result in last year’s Corruption Perceptions Index, TIP rejects claims that the Anti-Corruption Agenda – one of the government’s flagship measures – already contains an assessment of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (or ENAC) 2020-2024 in its technical report.
“A full reading of this report does not provide any evidence of a structured, methodologically identifiable assessment of the results of ENAC 2020-2024,” says TIP .
“What the report describes is essentially a process of political and institutional dialogue, relevant and desirable in a democracy, involving parties, public entities, and civil society organisations. This consultation exercise, although commendable, should not be confused with an impact assessment.”
According to TIP, for the Ministry of Justice to be able to talk about the evaluation of anti-corruption policies, there would have to be “clear identification of quantifiable objectives and targets from the previous strategy, implementation and outcome indicators; comparative analysis between planned targets and achieved results; identification of constraints, implementation failures and good practices; and technical conclusions that could inform future policy options.”
Instead, “none of this is explained in the report cited by the government as the basis for the alleged assessment.”
Recalling the public commitment to draw up a new ENAC for the period 2025-2028 – as contained in the Anti-Corruption Agenda presented by the ministry itself – TIP lamented that, so far, no proposal, timetable, or implementation process is known.
“The absence of this new strategy — already well into the period it should cover — raises doubts about the fulfilment of commitments made and the consistency between political discourse and government action,” says the corruption watchdog.
Recalling that the fight against corruption “requires rigour, transparency and strategic consistency over time”, TIP also says that international indicators “continue to pose challenges” to the perception of corruption in Portugal. It is therefore essential that the government publish the “detailed assessment” of ENAC 2020-2024, clarify the timetable for the approval of the next strategy, say that participation and transparency will be ensured in future measures, as well as concrete, measurable and scrutinisable commitments.
“In an area so sensitive to the quality of our democracy, it is important to ensure that the commitments made are translated into concrete instruments, defined in a timely manner and able to be publicly scrutinised,” says TIP.
The ministry released its statements this week in response to the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (in which Portugal was given ‘its worst score ever’) – saying that Portugal’s decline in the ranking does not reflect reforms underway.
The Corruption Perceptions Index is an annual indicator compiled by Transparency International that assesses the perception of corruption in the public sector in more than 180 countries.
Portugal fell to 46th place, scoring just 56 points (out of a possible 100).
Just to give an idea of how poor this score fares in comparison to other countries, Portugal came in this year behind nations like Botswana, Rwanda, Chile, Israel and Qatar.
Analysing the results, TIP president José Fontão pointed to a correlation between rising perceptions of corruption and the growth of populist rhetoric attacking institutions – in line with what is happening in other European countries with which Portugal compares itself.
He questioned “what will be done to prevent this”, given the impact that these levels of perception have on people’s lives, investment, perceptions of justice and other development indicators.
Fontão called on the political powers to take action: namely to strengthen institutions such as the National Anti-Corruption Mechanism (MENAC), to evaluate policies and legislation, and to put an end to “isolated measures”, which should be replaced by a “long-term strategy”, something that depends solely on “political will”.
Source: LUSA
