XIII Meeting of the Network of Anti-Corruption Agencies and Offices to discuss the application of the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers

Barcelona, october 18, 2023.- The Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia has organized the XIII Meeting of the Network of Anti-Corruption Agencies and Offices, held in Barcelona, at the headquarters of the College of Architects of Catalonia. During the meeting, the application of the Law on the Protection of Persons Reporting Regulatory Infringements and the Fight against Corruption, which came into force on 20 February and which transposed Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law, was discussed during the meeting.

During the meeting, the different anti-corruption agencies and offices shared information on the volume of requests for protection received, the procedure applied, the cases of granting and the denial of protection, among others.

A number of internal presentations have been made on the above-mentioned topics. In addition to the representatives of the different agencies and offices, speakers specializing in the protection of whistleblowers from different perspectives participated.

The professor of Administrative Law at the University of Barcelona, Òscar Capdeferro, presented the paper “Implementation of Law 2/2023. Interpretative consensus”, which focused on the protection files of the aforementioned law.

Beatriz García Moreno, also a professor of Criminal Law at the University of Castilla-La Mancha, explained the “Internal Information System” focusing on the responsibility of the obliged entity and that of the person responsible for the internal system, as well as the principle of non-incrimination.

On the other hand, throughout these two days, the intelligence strategy based on data analysis has also been analysed, and representatives of the agencies and offices of the network have shared ideas, projects and achievements in this area.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia, the Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption of the Valencian Community, the Office for the Prevention and Fight against Corruption in the Balearic Islands, the Office for Transparency and Good Practices of the Barcelona City Council,  the Municipal Office against Fraud and Corruption of the Madrid City Council, the Court of Auditors of the Canary Islands, the Office of Good Practices and Anti-Corruption of the Autonomous Community of Navarre, the Council of Accounts of Galicia, the National Anti-Fraud Coordination Service of the General Intervention of the State Administration (SNCA), the Independent Office for Regulation and Supervision of Procurement of the Ministry of Finance and Public Function.