The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency presents its complaint mailbox to organisations and entities throughout Europe in Brussels

Press release

Brussels, November 17, 2023.- The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency participated in a conference organized by Transparency International in Brussels in which representatives of different entities, governments and associations dedicated to the fight against corruption from all over Europe participated.

The first part of the day focused on the implementation of whistleblower protection best practices across the EU to combat corruption and showcased the work being done by representatives of the European Union Directorate-General for Justice, members of Transparency International Hungary and representatives of the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice.

The second session focused on the advantages of secure and easy-to-use online platforms such as GlobaLeaks to denounce corruption and in which representatives from Slovenia, Finland and Italy and the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency showed their experience.

Javi Alamá, head of systems of the Agency, was in charge of presenting to all the attendees the accumulated experience of the Agency in the last 5 years when it comes to receiving and processing complaints. To this end, it presented data and statistics on the use of external open source reporting channels. It also showed videos of the Agency’s staff in charge of handling complaints in which they explained their experience and shared recommendations and a set of good practices that were very well received by the participants.

In addition to secure reporting channels and effective systems for acting on whistleblowing, strong legal protection is essential to incentivise people to report corruption and other malpractices. To find out the extent to which EU countries protect whistleblowers, Transparency International examined the laws protecting corruption whistleblowers in 20 Member States against key EU requirements and best practices.

The director of the Georgia Anti-Corruption Office visits the Agency

Press release

València. november 13, 2023.- Razhden Kuprashvili, director of the Georgia Anti-Corruption Office, has visited the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency to learn about its operation. Georgia is currently immersed in the process of integration into the European Union and is being evaluated by the Group of States against Corruption of the Council of Europe to learn about the legislation and active policies it is developing in the fight against corruption. The Georgia Office has been recently created and with this visit they wanted to learn about the operation of the Valencian Agency and its experience in the field of investigation, training and protection of people who report corruption. Staff from the different areas of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency have given a presentation of the work they do.

The Agency participates in the EPAC/EACN General Assembly in Dublin with the participation of more than 100 anti-corruption institutions from 30 countries

Press release

Dublin, 3 November 2023 –  The 22nd Annual Conference and General Assembly of the European Anti-Corruption Partners (EPAC) and the European Anti-Corruption Contact Point Network (EACN) took place in Dublin on 2 and 3 December. Among the highlights of the conference was the adoption of the Dublin Declaration and the election of Linas Pernavas, Director of the Lithuanian Special Investigation Service (STT), as the new Chair of the EPAC/EACN Board, while the other members of the Board were re-elected for a second term.

The EPAC/EACN conference, held for the first time in Ireland, was organised by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, the Police Authority, the Garda Inspectorate and the Irish Department of Justice and was attended by more than 200 representatives from more than 100 institutions from 30 different countries and jurisdictions.

Members of the European Commission, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL), the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and national anti-corruption institutions shared their knowledge and experience in different areas of anti-corruption.

This year’s Conference focused on four main themes: whistleblowing, gender-based violence committed by state actors, safeguarding the EU’s financial interests, and how to address new challenges arising in corruption investigations.

The conference also included the presentation of the EPAC/EACN award for the most innovative anti-corruption initiative, which was awarded this year to the Polish Central Anti-Corruption Office for its ‘ABC Integrity’ project.

 

At the general assembly, the following members of the EPAC/EACN Board of Directors were elected for a period of 2 years, consisting of:

Chairman: Linas PERNAVAS, Director of the Special Investigation Service (STT), Lithuania

Vice-President (Anti-Corruption Area): Ernst SCHMID, Head of Department, Federal Anti-Corruption Office (BAK), Austria

Deputy Vice-President (Anti-Corruption Area): Traian Mihăiţă BÂRLICI, Head of the Prevention Directorate, Directorate-General Anti-Corruption (DGA), Romania

Vice-President (Police Supervision Area): Lucile ROLLAND, Deputy Head of the General Inspectorate of the French National Police (IGPN), France

Deputy Vice-President (Police Oversight): Hugh HUME, Commissioner of the Garda Ombudsman Irish Síochána (GSOC), Ireland

In addition, the General Assembly adopted the Dublin Declaration as the outcome document of the conference. This Statement will be widely disseminated by EPAC/EACN members in their respective countries and submitted to the relevant EU institutions and bodies, the Council of Europe’s GRECO, the OECD’s WGB and the UNODC.

The General Assembly also approved five new members as part of the two networks, bringing to 109 the total number of police oversight and anti-corruption bodies from 38 European countries that are members of EPAC and/or EACN. The new members are the Georgia Anti-Corruption Bureau; the Georgian Special Investigation Service; the Hungarian Integrity Authority; the Andalusian Anti-Fraud Office of Spain and the Asset Management and Recovery Agency of Ukraine

Click here to access the Dublin Declaration.