The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency together with 33 European integrity and protection authorities are constituted in Rome in the NEIWA Network

Press release

Rome, 24 March 2023.- The European Network of Integrity and Protection Authorities for Whistleblowers of Corruption has been  officially constituted this Friday in Rome as NEIWA Network.

This Network began operating in 2018 informally as a platform for cooperation and exchange of knowledge and experiences in the field of integrity and protection of whistleblowers. The approval of the European Directive 1937/2019 served as the basis for the constitution of this Network among those European agencies and authorities that were assigned these competences.

Currently, a total of 34 authorities belonging  to Member States of the European Union make up the Network, among which is the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, as well as authorities from candidate countries to join the European Union and EFTA (European Free Trade Association).

In the course of the  8th General Assembly of NEIWA that is being held on March 23 and 24  in Rome, the Network has approved its formal constitution as  well as the  adoption of a regulation  and to give structure to  the organization and regulate the  operation of the Network.

Laura Valli, representative of Italy’s National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC),  has also been elected as president of NEIWA and it has been agreed that the next meeting of the General Assembly will be held in Valencia.

Within the agenda of the General Assembly, the  Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has been  invited to make a presentation on how its complaints mailbox works and what is its experience in the management of this channel that has received more than 1,000 complaints in the 5 years it has been in operation.

The director of the Agency, Joan Llinares, and the head of the Agency’s information systems,  Javier Alamá, have been in charge of  making the complaints mailbox known to the rest of the  European authorities.

After the presentation, the Director of the Agency stated that “the fact that 33 European authorities for the fight against corruption and the protection of whistleblowers have shown interest in knowing how the AVAF complaints box works reinforces the work we are doing”.

“The Agency’s complaints mailbox is becoming a benchmark and so in November we were also presenting this mailbox invited by the group of experts of the European Commission. This mailbox is the one we are helping to implement in Valencian public institutions with which we have already signed collaboration agreements. The Provincial Council of Valencia, Provincial Council of Castellón, entities such as VAERSA or ISTEC,  and with municipalities such as those of Valencia, L’Eliana, Riba-roja, San Vicente del Raspeig, Dénia or La Yesa that have already incorporated as their external channel of complaints the mailbox of the Agency “.

The NEIWA Network currently consists of the following members:

                         

Belgium         Federal Ombudsman

Flemish Ombudsman

German speaking community Ombudsman

Ombudsman of the Brussels-Capital Region

Bulgaria         Commission for Anti-Corruption and Illegal Assets Forfeiture

Croatia           Ombudswoman

Czech Republic Ministry of Justice, Conflict of Interests and Anti-Corruption Department

Denmark        Data Protection Authority

Estonia          Ministry of Justice, Criminal Policy Department

Finland           Ministry of Justice

France            Défenseur des Droits

Germany     Federal Office of Justice of Germany

Greece           National Transparency Authority

Hungary         Commissioner for Fundamental Rights

Iceland       Prime Minister‘s Office

Ireland          Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission

                      GSOC Protected Disclosure Unit (PDU)

Italy                National Anticorruption Authority (ANAC)

Latvia             State Chancellery, Contact Point of Whistleblowers

                       Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau

Lithuania       General Prosecutor’s Office

Montenegro   Agency for Prevention of Corruption

Netherlands The Dutch Whistleblower Authority

Portugal         Prosecutor’s General Office 

Romania        Ministry of Justice

Slovakia         Prime Minister’s Office (Corruption Prevention Department)         

                        Whistleblower Protection Office

Slovenia         Commission for the Prevention of Corruption

Spain              Ministry of Justice

Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF)

Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia (OAC)

Prevention and Fight against Corruption Office of the Balearic Islands

Andalusian Office against Fraud and Corruption

Sweden          Swedish Work Environment Authority

The Economic and Social Committee (CES) and the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency agree to collaborate in the prevention of fraud and corruption

Press release

Valencia, March 15, 2023.- The president  of the Economic and  Social Committee (CES), Arturo León, and the director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, Joan Llinares, have signed a collaboration protocol between both statutory institutions.

The purpose of this agreement is the collaboration between both institutions to improve their respective activities for the prevention of fraud and corruption since although they perform different functions, they are complementary.

Among the planned actions is the creation of a Coordination Commission that will meet in the third quarter of each year in order to propose the training actions and of any kind that will be carried out the following year.

Likewise, the ESC may send to the Agency the complaints they receive where possible legal breaches are revealed so that it can carry out the investigations that may be appropriate.

The president of the Committee, Arturo León, has declared that “this agreement will help prevent any case of fraud and corruption in the Economic and Social Committee thanks to the collaboration with the Agency”.

For his part, the director of the Agency, Joan Llinares has indicated that “this agreement will allow the realization of training actions, as well as technology transfer between both public institutions with the aim of preventing fraud and corruption and contributing to the consolidation of ethics and public integrity”.

Declarations by the president of the CES

Declarations by the AVAF director

The EPAC/EACN. An approach to these organizations and the importance of the participation in them of the AVAF

Blog AVAF-En

EPAC (European  Partners against Corruption) and EACN (European contact-point network against corruption) are two independent forums for anti-corruption and police authorities and bodies, united in the common objective of preventing and combating corruption. While EPAC has been around since 2004, EACN was founded in 2008, following the EPAC model.

The EPAC is composed of  anti-corruption authorities and police oversight bodies  from member countries of the Council of Europe.  The  EACN, a more formal network established by a decision of the Council of the European Union, brings together the anti-corruption authorities of the Member States of the European Union.  In any case, both networks work together as one, given their common mission and goals. Most anti-corruption authorities are also, in fact, members of bothnetworks.  The financial resources available to both networks are supported by voluntary contributions from members, observers, official international programmes and other sources of funding such as those from the EU.

With the overall objective of strengthening cooperation, the  EPAC/EACN provides a platform for practitioners to exchange experiences, information and concerns in the field of anti-corruption and policing, assist each other and cooperate across national borders, both in terms of knowledge and practical experience. Its main objective is to contribute to police oversight and the global fight against corruption through dialogue and joint work, respecting the legal systems of each country.  Consequently, the EPAC/EACN is committed to  promoting effective police and anti-corruption systems thatare based on ethical standards and ensure respect for the rule of law and human rights.

The mission of the EPAC/EACN is to:

  • Establish, maintain and develop contacts between specialized anti-corruption and police oversight authorities.
  • Promote independence, impartiality, legitimacy, accountability, transparency and accessibility in all systems created and maintained for independent oversight of police and anti-corruption work
  • Promote international legal instruments and mechanisms from a professional perspective.
  • Support the development and promotion of common working standards and best practices for police oversight bodies and anti-corruption authorities.
  • Provide a platform for the exchange of information and experience on developments in police oversight and anti-corruption.
  • Provide support to other countries and organizations seeking to establish or develop oversight mechanisms and anti-corruption authorities.
  • Cooperate with other organizations, authorities, networks and stakeholders in the fulfillment of the above objectives.

At the moment the EPAC brings together 90 anti-corruption authorities and police oversight bodies of the Council of Europe and member states of the European Union, is the largest network in Europe in the field of anti-corruption and is a special organization because it brings together different types of services, agencies, organizations, which represent the anti-corruption systems of each country. The EACN comprises almost 60 anti-corruption authorities from EU Member States. The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is a member of both networks, while the European Commission, Europol and Eurojust maintain an ongoing relationship with the activities of the EACN. The newly established European Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has joined both organisations as an observer.

AVAF has been a member of the EPAC/EACN since the 18th Annual Professional Conference and General Assembly, which was organised by the Austrian Federal Anti-Corruption Office (BAK) and which took place from 22 to 24 October 2018 in Rust, Austria. Along with the AVAF,  several Spanish authorities are members  of   the EPAC/EACN:  the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia (OAC), the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Corruption and Organized Crime, the Inspectorate of Personnel and Services of the State Police Agencies (IPSS) under the Ministry of the  Interior, the Internal Affairs Division of the Mossos de Escuadra  and  the Office for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud of the Balearic Islands

Each year, the EPAC/EACN holds  a conference and   a general assembly to which the members of both networks are invited and in which they expose, among other issues, the way of working of the different anti-corruption and police surveillance authorities, the situation or difficulties in which they find themselves in certain countries or the solutions adopted in the field of anti-corruption in certain practical cases those who have had to face. In addition, there are different active working groups for the development of concrete projects that  organize seminars  and webinars to  present and share their progress and results, to which all members of the EPAC / EACN are invited, whether or not they are part of that specific working group.

On 23 and 24 November 2022, the 21st Annual Conference and General Assembly of the EPAC/EACN was held in Chisinau, Moldova, in which the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency was present.

The conference showed  that the problems of the war in Ukraine, inflation and the disinformation associated with it, represent a situation of exceptional vulnerability that accentuates the risks of corruption.  Two strong ideas were also put forward which are worth highlighting.  Aof great interest to EU candidate countries: corruption deters foreign investment;  and, the other, which must be kept in mind by  all anti-corruption authorities and  by all social agents: it  is very difficult to build a system to fight corruption and very easy to destroy it.

AVAF’s participation in these international networks undoubtedly provides it with a space to share experiences with institutions with extensive background and experience in the fight against corruption.  Sharing problems and situations that occur in other territories, as well as ways to address them by other agencies, definitely enriches our institution and helps us implement best practices in pursuit of our final and common goal which is the prevention and fight against fraud and corruption.

Mª José Moragues Faus

Head of Unit of the analysis and investigation of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency