The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency joins the Network of Corruption Prevention Authorities (NCPA) of the Council of Europe

Press release

Valencia, September 13, 2022.- The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has joined as an observer entity the international organization NCPA (Network of Corruption Prevention Authorities), a network that is within the framework of the Council of Europe in the Division of Economic Crime and Cooperation.
The NCPA network currently has 31 members, an observer entity (the Office for the Prevention and Fight against Corruption in the Balearic Islands) and five partners. Members of the network include representatives from France, Bulgaria, Estonia, Italy, Denmark, Egypt, Tunisia, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Jordan and Azerbaijan.
It is the circumstance that to be part of the NCPA only the national authorities of each country can be members and in the case of Spain, not having a national authority to fight fraud and corruption, only the autonomous agencies can participate as an observer entity, a role that will be exercised by the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency together with the Office of Prevention and Fight against Corruption of the Balearic Islands.
The current presidency of the NCPA is held by the Hellenic National Transparency Authority (NTA) of Greece.
The NCPA was launched in October 2018 with the aim of addressing the need for cooperation between anti-corruption authorities to improve the collection, management and exchange of information as well as the sharing of their respective experiences and good practices.
Likewise, the network helps the different members and observer entities to implement policies that favor the development of more effective anti-corrosion strategiesthat include both the public and private sectors.
One of the most important works developed by the NCPA is the publication of a map of the existing anti-corruption authorities in the world in which the AVAF (Network of Corruption Prevention Authorities (coe.int) is included.
Once the incorporation of the Agency was accepted last week, he participated in a meeting of the NCPA informing the rest of the members of the network of the work carried out by the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency.
Presence in other international bodies
The NCPA is not the only international organisation in which the Agency participates and thus also forms part as a full member:
-EPAC/EACN
Since 2018, the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has been part of the European Network of Anti-Fraud and Corruption Agencies (EAPC), which includes 30 anti-corruption organizations on the European continent.
Likewise , the AVAF is part of the EACN (European contact-point network), a supranational organization made up of more than 60 anti-corruption authorities and police oversight bodies of the Council of Europe.
https://www.epac-eacn.org/
-NEIWA
In 2019 the European Union adopted the Directive on the protection of whistleblowers of breaches of Union law (Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons reporting breaches of Union law) directly related to the fight against corruption.
The Network of European Integrity Authorities and Whistleblowers (NEIWA), which currently represents 23 member states, was established in May of the same year to provide a platform for cooperation and exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of integrity and whistleblowing.
The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has been a member of NEIWA since 2019.

“Ending corruption would help reduce public debt”, said the director of the Agency in the Investigation Commission of the Corts Valencianes

Press release

Valencia, September 06, 2022.- The director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, Joan Llinares, appeared this morning before the Public Debt Investigation Commission of the Valencian Community in the Corts Valencianes.
In his speech, the director began by pointing out that the “central question is whether the public debt contracted is balanced with the financial capacity that each public administration has to deal with it and whether the investments made have a purpose and social return or are I could have dispensed with them as unnecessary.”
And to achieve this objective there is a fundamental tool such as “the evaluation of public policies linked to the principles of good governance, responsible management of public resources and solid control systems,” added Llinares.
He then presented the members of the Commission with different data and studies on the cost of corruption in the increase in public debt. Among these reports, the “Stopping corruption” report prepared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stands out, in which it is pointed out that corruption costs Spain about 60,000 million annually, which is equivalent to a negative impact on the GDP close to the 4.5 points.
Also the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMV) in a 2015 report states that “it is estimated that, in the absence of competitive pressure in public contracting, average upward deviations of up to 25% of the contracting budgets can be caused. ”. And at this point, the director of the Agency pointed out that “the CNMV has just imposed a penalty of 300 million euros on the main Spanish construction companies for dividing up and agreeing on prices for 25 years”
“Ending corruption, or at least reducing it, would certainly not end all public debt, but it would reduce borrowing needs and improve the financial capacity of public coffers, helping to build trust in politics and its representatives. and thus strengthening the democratic system”, concluded Llinares.
You can access the entire intervention on the Corts Valencianes YouTube channel here:

VAERSA ​​and the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency sign a collaboration agreement to develop a framework of integrity and public ethics

Press release

Valencia, July 13, 2022.- The public company of the Generalitat Valenciana Valenciana D’Aprofitament Energètic de Residus, S.A. (VAERSA) and the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency have signed a collaboration agreement for the implementation of fraud and corruption prevention activities and the promotion of ethics and public integrity.
The agreement is the first that the Agency signs with a public company and has been signed by the general director of VAERSA, Ferran Vicent García, and by the director of the Agency, Joan Llinares.
Among the actions contemplated by the agreement is that of complying with the requirements of the European Directive 2019/1937 regarding the protection of people who report violations of Union Law with the recognition by VAERSA ​​as an external channel of their complaints to the Agency’s Complaints Mailbox and adhere to it.

In order for the Agency’s Complaints Mailbox to act as an external channel for VAERSA ​​complaints, this entity undertakes to include in a visible place on its website, or any other support it deems appropriate, the link to the AVAF Complaints Mailbox along with clear and precise information about its function and purpose.