Government of Spain enhances protection for those who report on corruption

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The Council of Ministers has presented the preliminary draft law regulating the protection of persons who report on regulatory infringements and the fight against corruption, as a result of the transposition of an EU directive on the subject.

The Minister for Justice, Pilar Llop, explained that whistleblowers are people who report infringements of the internal legal system or of the European Union within a public or private organisation or through external channels.

Llop specified that the aim of the transposition of this directive is to protect those people who report matters related to corruption, fraud or violations of laws in the countries of the European Union or infringements of internal law.

With this rule, any citizen, worker or public official will be able to report suspicious transactions, subsidies and awards that they become aware of in their work or professional environment, and the legislation will have the obligation to provide them with real and effective protection against any retaliation, including their environment if necessary.

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaThe Justice Minister added that the future law establishes two information systems that guarantee the confidentiality of the informant. The internal channel, where anonymous whistleblowing is allowed, and the external channel, through the Independent Whistleblower Protection Authority, which will determine whether the event being reported is a breach and whether the whistleblower needs to be protected.

According to the minister, this new regulation "will increase the anti-corruption culture, the culture of transparency and the culture of democratic quality" in the areas of administration and business, and will prevent reprisals against whistleblowers from going unpunished. In addition, she believes that "a climate of trust between the whistleblower and the administration" will be created.

In her speech, the minister also pointed out that in the sectoral sphere, bodies such as the National Securities Market Commission and the Bank of Spain already have similar whistleblower protection channels.

On the other hand, Pilar Llop recalled that, according to the Centre for Sociological Research, corruption is one of the greatest concerns of Spaniards and, nevertheless, the number of convictions is very low. Furthermore, she pointed out that the cost of global corruption is 2.3 trillion dollars, which is 5% of the total Gross Domestic Product.

More effective response to people who go missing

On 9 March, Missing Persons Day, the Government has presented the first Missing Persons Strategic Plan for 2022-2024.

The document aims to increase the preventive and investigative capacities of law enforcement agencies and to improve their staffing and protocols to respond more effectively to missing people.

The Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has advanced that "the objective is to have the most aware, trained and prepared personnel and to provide them with adequate instruments for the prevention and resolution of cases" of missing people.

The plan has a budget of 2.25 million euros and four priority lines of action: prevention and awareness-raising, training, technological measures for the investigation and resolution of cases, and care for family members and relatives in the third social sector.

In addition, Grande-Marlaska stressed that the text pays special attention to two vulnerable groups: minors under guardianship, in order to determine the causes of going missing and the reasons for recidivism, and the elderly and other groups with cognitive impairment.

The document gathers the contributions of the National Centre for Missing Persons, the Security Forces and Associations representing missing people. It also envisages the development of a predictive tool to help investigators make decisions and will promote access to the largest possible number of files and databases on missing people, corpses and unidentified human remains.

The minister indicated that during 2021, 22,285 missing person reports were filed, a figure "significantly lower than in previous years", 94% of which were resolved.

More control over explosives precursor substances

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaThe Council of Ministers has approved referring the Draft Law on Explosives Precursors to Parliament, a law that regulates the marketing and use of legal chemical substances that can be used to make homemade explosive devices for terrorist attacks.

The Minister for Home Affairs has reported that the aim of the new regulation is to strengthen the limitations on private access to these chemicals. To this end, the buyers of these products must complete and hand over a customer declaration to the seller with their personal and commercial data, and it is compulsory to report the transaction to the Centre for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organised Crime (CITCO).

Improving the rights of the Guardia Civil: code of conduct and associations

The Executive has approved the royal decree that includes the Code of Conduct of the Guardia Civil, conceived as a guide that defines the values, principles and standards of behaviour of the members of the force.

Fernando Grande-Marlaska remarked that the aim of this code is to "further strengthen the public's confidence in the corps through the framework of action of its professionals".

The minister also highlighted the approval of another royal decree that develops the rights of the professional associations of the Guardia Civil, their representatives and the members of the Guardia Civil Council elected to represent the members of the force.

The regulation recognises the right of these professional associations to submit proposals and petitions to the competent authorities, to promote candidacies for the election of members of the Guardia Civil Council, and to convene and hold meetings in official centres of the corps.

Once the elections to the Council have been held, the professional associations that obtain representation shall have the right to be consulted on draft regulations, to participate in committees and working groups on professional issues, access the information they need to be able to carry out their functions and submit proposals, petitions and complaints related to the aims of the associations.

Recognition of victims of terrorism

The Council of Ministers has awarded the Grand Cross for Victims of Terrorism to five Spaniards killed in terrorist attacks committed abroad: journalists David Beriain and Roberto Fraile, who died in Burkina Faso on 26 April 2021; Alberto Chaves and María González, victims of an attack in Sri Lanka on 21 April 2019, and priest Antonio César Fernández, who died in Burkina Faso on 15 February 2019.

The Minister for Home Affairs stressed that Spain is one of the few countries that provides identical protection to the victims of attacks, whether they have taken place on Spanish soil or abroad.

Minimum stocks of petroleum products

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaThe Government has approved an agreement to release minimum security stocks of petroleum products as part of a coordinated action by the International Energy Agency.

The Minister for Territorial Policy and Government Spokesperson, Isabel Rodríguez, has specified that this is a coordinated and voluntary action to provide security and calm to the markets in the face of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. "Spain is going to contribute to this international strategy with two million barrels of oil, which represents 2.6 days of our reserves," she said.

The release of minimum stocks is for a period of one month and is a measure that will be applied urgently and extraordinarily after its publication in the Official State Gazette.

The measure, the spokesperson argued, is included in the National Plan to respond to the economic and social impact of the war announced by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, last Wednesday in the Lower House of Parliament.

Current Affairs

During her speech at the press conference following the Council of Ministers, Isabel Rodríguez referred to the meeting of the National Security Council, which analysed Russia's invasion of Ukraine: "Spain continues to attend to the needs of the Ukrainian people with total and constant coordination and unity with other EU countries, understanding that this attack by Russia on Ukraine is also an attack on the values and principles of the European Union".

Rodríguez added that Spain will continue to defend unity in the response and to underpin the actions taken at the EU level and in the Atlantic Alliance.

Refugee reception structure

Foto: Pool Moncloa/Borja Puig de la BellacasaThe spokesperson recalled that Europe has already activated the temporary protection directive so that refugees can work in Europe without the need for the usual procedures and have access to education, health and social rights.

Isabel Rodríguez also announced that an inter-ministerial committee is preparing an operation that will allow coordination between the government, the regional governments, town councils and non-governmental organisations in assisting those who come to our country.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will meet tomorrow at Moncloa Palace with the president of the Government of Spain to assess the situation and the evolution of the conflict, as well as the impact of the war on the European and Spanish economies and on the energy price markets.

Non official translation