Nov242022

The Agency participates in the 21st annual meeting of the EPAC/EACN held in Moldova

Valencia, November 23, 2022.- The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has participated virtually in the 21st annual meeting of the European Partners against Corruption (EPAC) and the European Conctact-Point network against corruption (EACN) in which more than 100 people from the 24 member countries have participated.

The celebration of the meeting in Moldova has conditioned the face-to-face attendance of the participants as this country borders Ukraine. At the meeting, Moldova’s efforts  in  implementing anti-corruption measures to build trust in citizens and for its incorporation as a member of the European Union were recognized.

The  plenary sessions have been divided into two: one related to the investigation in which real cases have been exposed and it has been concluded that it is very difficult to build a system to fight corruption and very easy to destroy it; and another related to international cooperation and exchange of information in which  the importance of cooperation between anti-corruption agencies and organizations has been highlighted.    and public institutions.

This meeting also agreed on the accession of new entities to the EPAC such as the EPPO (European Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office);  Internal Security Bureua of the Latvian Ministry of Internal Affairs; Chief Offcial Ethics Commission of Lithuania;  Internal and protection office of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova; Garda Inspectorate of Ireland and the State Bureau Investigation of Ukraine

With these additions, the EPAC is the largest network in Europe in the field of anti-corruption and fraud  and brings together different types of services, agencies, organizations, which represent the anti-corruption system of each country.

The Council also approved the establishment of three working groups:

  • Policy Advisory and Analysis Working Group (APA): to conduct analysis and assist the EPAC/EACN Council in providing opinions or advice on policy issues or public consultations.
  • Training and Knowledge Transfer Working Group (TTK) – to plan and conduct webinars aimed at the EACN community on relevant anti-corruption and policing issues;
  • Project Activities Developing and Implementing Working Group (DIPA): to initiate and develop project activities to promote the exchange of experience and best practices among EPAC/EACN members and observers.

Also at this meeting the candidacy of Ukraine “Anti-corruptionschool” programme https://www.undp.org/ukraine/press-releases/new-basic-online-course-trains-anti-corruption-officersn won the “2022 EPAC/EACN Award”.

Chisinau Declaration 2022

 

Nov232022

Training in integrity. The FVMP staff receives the Valencian Antifraud Agency

#TrainingAVAF

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF) and the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FVMP) continue their collaboration in prevention and training in integrity and the fight against corruption with a new training session.

The FVMP staff has participated in this new conference with the aim of approaching the necessary integrity strategies that each and every one of the public administrations must develop.

Víctor Almonacid, director of Prevention, Training and Documentation of the AVAF gave the presentation “From anti-fraud plans to integrity plans” where he explained that by the new Law 1/2022, of Transparency of the Valencian Community it is mandatory that

  • the Valencian entities have ethical and conduct codes with a minimum legal content
  • the Valencian integrity system take into account in its design both the identification of the most relevant public identity risks and the prevention plans
  • and that public administrations adopt measures that promote a culture of planning and evaluation of services and public policies.

Amparo Martí, head of the Agency’s expert unit, announced the obligations related to the complaint mailboxes that all local entities of the Valencian Community must have and as the external complaint mailbox of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, complies as External mailbox for each and every one of the more than 500 local entities in the territory. To questions from the attendees, the mechanisms for the protection of whistleblowers and the current regulations on the matter were also addressed.

The attendees learned that the Agency provides legal advice to those who need it related to risks of fraud and corruption in the public administration.

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency has publications and resources to contribute to the learning of personnel at the service of the public sector. Find out here:

The AVAF and the FVMP have agreed to continue collaborating in the dissemination and support of town halls through training sessions.

Nov212022

Management risks in the electoral period. The AVAF and the FVMP collaborate in the training of elected officials

#TrainingAVAF

 

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF) and the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Province (FVMP) have held the conference “Management risks in the electoral period” aimed at elected officials at the MUVIM headquarters.

The training session was inaugurated by Tatiana Prades, Deputy Secretary General of the FVMP and Joan Llinares, Director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency.

The main conference of the day “Municipal public management in the electoral period. Main risks.” It was given by Víctor Almonacid, director of Prevention, Training and Documentation of the AVAF.

Throughout the session, the speaker has shown that the key is to identify risks in municipal management and the first step in detecting these is to be aware of them. The recommendation “Catalogue of common risks in decision-making processes and some prevention mechanisms”  details them and specifies prevention mechanisms for the risks warned.

 

The Director of Prevention, Training and Documentation of the Agency stressed that institutional integrity is articulated as a counterweight to risks and made it clear that the Valencian Community has solid foundations to implement an integrity strategy.


Law 1/2022 of April 13 of the Generalitat of Transparency and Good Governance of the Valencian Community allows establishing solid foundations to implement an “Integrity Strategy”:

  • The promotion of the preparation and approval of risk prevention plans contrary to integrity based on self-diagnosis and identification of the most relevant risks in the organization.
  • Dedication and compatibility regime
  • Mechanisms of intention inhibition and recusal.
  • Protocols for the prevention of conflicts of interest
  • Declarations of activities, assets, rights and obligations.
  • Valencian Antifraud Agency.

 

Some of the most obvious risks for elected officials are related to Law 12/2018 on institutional advertising since the law prohibits, among other issues:

  • The party institutional advertising communication
  • The public acts of handing over the keys to make real estate by elected officials that will be carried out by the competent official personnel and without public staging.
  • The acts of laying the first stones or inauguration of the start of construction of works financed, totally or partially, with public funds by people with elected or high positions.

 

During the electoral period, the Institutional Advertising Law details that you can carry out institutional campaigns aimed at informing citizens about the voting: date, requirements, but it is prohibited

  • Acts of inauguration of public works or services or their projects, whatever the denomination used, without prejudice to the fact that said works or services may come into operation in said period, nothing prevents said works or services from coming into operation in said period.
  • Acts that contain allusions to the achievements obtained, financed directly or indirectly, by the powers, or that use images similar to those used in campaigns by the political entities concurrent to the elections.
  • Acts that contain allusions to the achievements obtained, financed directly or indirectly, by the powers, or that use images similar to those used in campaigns by the political entities concurrent to the elections.