According to the report released in Strasbourg, France, on 31 December, 2019 Portugal had only fully implemented one of the 15 recommendations issued by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). Of the remaining 14 recommendations, eight were partially implemented and six recommendations were not implemented.
In addition to Portugal, the other countries identified as not complying with GRECO, due to the low level of compliance with anti-corruption recommendations in relation to MPs, judges and prosecutors, were Armenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Monaco, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Turkey.
On the other hand, on 31 December, 2019 Bosnia Herzegovina, the Czech Republic and Serbia were the only three countries to have not fully implemented any of the GRECO recommendations addressed to MPs, judges and prosecutors.
Portugal was one of 14 countries that had not yet fully implemented any of GRECO’s recommendations in relation to deputies. The other countries in the same situation were Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Malta, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.
As of 31 December, 2019 - the date to which the GRECO reports, Portugal was still among the 11 countries that had not yet fully complied with GRECO’s recommendations and measures in relation to judges.
The other 10 countries in the same situation were Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Serbia and Switzerland.
GRECO, a Council of Europe body that monitors corruption, has existed since 1999, having been created as a result of the political will of the member states of the Council of Europe to take decisive and lasting measures to combat corruption, ensuring adherence and effective implementation of standards comprehensive in the fight against corruption.
The mission of its members, which extends beyond the geographic scope of the Council of Europe, is to promote targeted actions to combat corruption, raise awareness of the risks of corruption and evaluate and implement reforms to correct deficiencies in policies, legislation and various national institutions.
GRECO developed a model for monitoring corruption to provide each member state with a detailed analysis and set of recommendations tailored to the specific architecture of each country.
Subsequent so-called “compliance procedures” serve to verify the level of compliance and actively seek alignment with what is recommended by GRECO to prevent corruption, a phenomenon that weakens and impoverishes States.