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 City Council of Algemesí and the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency sign a protocol to launch the complaint mailboxes and the Integrity Plan

Press release

Algemesí, February 28,  2023.- The mayor of Algemesí, Marta Trenzano, 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 City Council of Algemesí is working.

Within the general lines of the Integrity Plan, the implementation of both internal and external complaint mailboxes 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 Aandanointing  of Algemesí will  enable as an external channel of denunciations the mailbox of complaints of the Valencia Antifraud Agency which will be visible on the municipal website;  A mailbox that guarantees the confidentiality of whistleblowers, as well as allows 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 formative nature where the staff of the municipality 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 Integrity Plan of the City Council of Algemesí 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 City Council staff in matters of integrity or the promotion and dissemination of the culture of ethics and public integrity.

The mayor of Algemesí, Marta Trenzano was very grateful to the Agency for the accompaniment and advice in the fight against fraud and in favor of the protection and transparency of public administrations.

For his part, the director of the Agency, Joan Llinares, has declared that “this is the first agreement that the Agency signs after the publication of the new Law on the Protection of Informants and where public administrations have 3 months from the entry into force to equip themselves with these internal and external complaint mechanisms”.

“Compliance with the requirement of external complaint mailboxes in the Valencian Community can be easily resolved by having an Anti-Fraud Agency and for this it is only necessary that each administration, company or institution includes next to its internal complaints mailbox the address of the external complaints mailbox of the Agency. The Agency offers assistance and advice in the implementation of both external and internal mailboxes and the  only requirement is to sign a protocol regulating such collaboration,” added Llinares.

Declarations by the Mayoress of Algemesi

Declarations by the AVAF director