The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency delivers its Activity Report for 2022 to the President of the Generalitat

Press release

Valencia, April 19, 2023.- The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has delivered its Activity Report corresponding to the year 2022 to the President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig, in a ceremony held at the Palau de la Generalitat.

The director of the Agency, Joan Llinares, has delivered the two volumes of the Report, one in Valencian and one in Spanish. The event was attended by the Deputy Director and Legal Affairs of the Agency, Teresa Clemente; the director of analysis and research, Gustavo Segura; and the head of the administration and human resources area, María José Cervera.

The Report includes the activity carried out by the Agency during 2022 in the area of training, prevention and documentation; the legal area and protection of the complainant; analysis and research; Administration, recruitment and human resources and communication.

On March 28, the Agency’s Activity Report was delivered to the President of les Corts, Enric Morera, thus fulfilling the mandate contained in article 22 of Law 11/2016 on the creation of the Agency.

The Síndics of all the parliamentary groups and the Mesa de les Corts were also present at that event.

The State Network of Anti-Fraud Offices and Agencies meets in Seville to analyze the application of the new Law 2/2023 on the protection of people reporting corruption

Press release

Seville, April 18,   202 3.- The XII Meeting of the Network of Anti-Fraud Offices and Agencies held on April 17 and 18 in the Parliament of Andalusia has aimed to analyze the common challenges posed by the application of Law 2/2023,  of February 20, on the protection of people who report on regulatory infractions and the fight against corruption,  after its entry into force on March 13.

The authorities present at the meeting have addressed different aspects of the aforementioned law ranging from the scope of application of the norm and its fit with the current regional regulations, to the sphere of rights of the complainant, through the functions of the future Independent Authority for the Protection of the Informant (AAI).

As a result of the joint analysis carried out during the two days of work, it  has been verified the need to establish coordination mechanisms to avoid that the application of the new law supposes a reduction in the level of protection of the informant in the territories where it was already guaranteed by the current regional and local regulations in the fight against corruption.

This firm commitment to promote active cooperation between all the competent institutions in the fieldwill serve to clarify issues related to the adaptation of regional regulations to the  Law, so as to guarantee a homogeneous application of the same and contribute to a greater effectiveness of the measures planned for the protection of citizens,  as well as to optimize the use of public resources.

Another aspect under discussion has been the configuration and functions of the new Independent Authority for the Protection of Informants (AAI), a state-wide body whose new creation should not limit the capacity of action of the rest of regional and local authorities.

In this sense, the Network considers it essential to join forces towards a real coordination of competences in order to ensure a coordinated and effective response at all levels of administration regardless of their field of competence.

This meeting, organized by the Andalusian Office against Fraud and Corruption (OAAF), was attended by representatives of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia (OAC); the ValencianAntifrau Agency (AVAF); the Office of Good Practices and Anti-Corruption of Navarra; the Office for the Prevention and Fight against Corruption  in the Balearic Islands (OAIB); the Directorate of Analysis Services, the managing body of the Ethics and Good Governance Mailbox of Barcelona City Council; the Municipal Office against Fraud and Corruption of the Madrid City Council; the National Anti-Fraud Coordination Service (SNCA); the Independent Office of Regulation and  Supervision of Contracting; the National Commission of Markets and Competition and the Consello de Contas de Galicia (Observer).

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency and the SGISE sign a protocol to launch the complaint boxes and the Integrity Plan

Press release

Valencia, April 5, 2023.- The president of the Societat Valenciana de Gestió Integral de Serveis d’Emergències (SIGSE), José María Ángel Batalla, and the director of the  Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, Joan Llinares, have signed a collaboration protocol between both institutions that will help promote the Integrity Plan in which the Emergency Service is working.

Within the general lines of the Integrity Plan, the implementation of complaint mailboxes, both internal and external, is contemplated, thus complying with the requirement of the new Law 2/2023 regulating the protection of people who report on regulatory infractions and the fight against corruption.

With this Law published in the BOE on February 21, the European Directive 1937/2019, on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union Law, better known as the Whistleblowers Directive, is transposed into Spanish law.

The SIGSE will enable as an external channel of denunciations the mailbox of denunciations of the Agency which will be visible on its website. This mailbox guarantees the confidentiality of whistleblowers as well as allowing the possibility of being able to make complaints anonymously.

The collaboration between both institutions will also extend to other actions and activities such as those of a training nature where emergency service personnel will receive training in aspects related to the promotion of ethics and public integrity, as well as the prevention and detection of situations constituting fraud and corruption.

The SGISE Integrity Plan will contain, among others, an institutional declaration of integrity; incorporating institutional integrity into strategic planning; enabling a specific internal whistleblowing channel and connecting to the Agency’s external whistleblowing channel; the regulation and management of conflicts of interest; the training of personnel in integrity or the promotion and dissemination of the culture of ethics and public integrity.

The president of SIGSE José María Ángel, stressed that “through this framework agreement the public company will intensify actions to apply  the practices of transparency and good governance in  the entity that manages the forest fire service”.

José María Ángel has shown his satisfaction after signing this agreement.  “We will walk together in order to achieve a double objective. The first is to provide greater transparency to management, because that is a basic and inalienable principle  in any activity related to public entities and bodies.” Secondly, he continued, “this agreement also guarantees greater access to  citizen information  to  these entities and, as a consequence, we bring our management closer to society.”

For his part, the director of the Agency, Joan Llinares, hashighlighted “the  importance of signing a collaboration protocol between the Agency and SIGSE, the entity responsible for extinguishing forest fires that will allow compliance with the new Law on the protection of persons reporting corruption and the consolidation of higher levels of ethics and public integrity”