Spain was slammed limping at the corruption.
Spain fired fire from the top anti-corruption groups on the Council of Europe after failing to clean the act despite years of warning and increasing pressure to take seriously on political integrity.
terrible Follow-up Report Announced this week, the National Group on Corruption (Greco) strongly criticised the Spanish government for “pending” key anti-corruption reforms and accused Pedro Sanchez of failing to comply with the Watchdog long-standing recommendations.
With 19 strikes, you’re still out
Go back In June 2024, Greco issued 19 recommendations as part of its fifth assessment to help control Spain’s transparency and corruption. Fast forward to April 2025, but it has not been fully implemented. Partially too. Group verdict? “It’s not enough.”
In particular, reports I’ll aim The current government has not introduced long-standing laws to regulate lobbying and interactions between lawmakers and third parties seeking to influence the law behind closed doors.
Spanish lobbying laws are still in scope
Greco repeatedly urged Spain Bring it in Clear rules governing how lobbyists interact with lawmakers. Although several measures have been adopted for many years to improve transparency in Congress, no one can see complete lobbying laws anywhere.
Worse, Greco points out a “big inconsistency” about how MPs handle the rules of transparency. Less than 10% of lawmakers despite legal obligation to disclose their official agenda, including meetings with lobbyists. actually According to Congress’s 2023 report, do so My own Office of conflict of interest.
And since the original report was released in 2024? According to the EU Watchdog, it hasn’t changed much. The 2025 follow-up report reminded lawmakers of their obligation to disclose meetings with special interest groups. However, Spain has failed to report “new developments” and progress, Greco says.
Have police and Guardian citizens been exposed?
It’s not just that Congress gets heat.
Greco also denounced Polysia Nacional and Guardian citizens for failing to adopt Spanish top security forces, namely anti-corruption strategies. In 2024, Watchdog recommended both force Complete risk assessments of corruption-prone areas and activities and compile integrity plans. These plans are still MIA.
Guardia Civil is “working on that,” Greco admits, but once again, no actual anti-corruption plan has been rolled out. Still, it’s not all dark. Council of Europe did welcome Reports of “good cooperation” between the interior services forces of both police. But when it takes action, Greco’s patience is clearly She’s wearing it thinly. Things seem to be moving very slowly.
A gentle, pointy slap on the wrist
In a typical diplomatic tone, Greco urged Spanish authorities to take “more decisive action.” But the subtext is clear: Spain drags heels for It’s too long.
With confidence in the political system already frayed at the edge, the message from Europe is unmistakable – when Spain has it when it comes to purifying politics I got it Stop talking and start a walk.
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