In mid-February, the draft Organic Law on Public Integrity (Anteproyecto de Ley Orgánica de Integridad Pública) was approved by the Council of Ministers, and the public consultation procedure was completed in early March. The draft must now undergo a second approval by the Council of Ministers before being submitted to the Cortes Generales (the Spanish Parliament).
The main innovations proposed by the draft law include:
1) Improvements to the institutional framework:
a) the establishment of an Independent Agency for Public Integrity (hereinafter – the Agency). The Agency will merge three existing state bodies: the Office of Conflicts of Interest, the Independent Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers, and the National Anti-Fraud Coordination Service. Its functions will include coordinating anti-corruption policy, developing proposals to improve regulation, and strengthening oversight mechanisms;
b) the creation within the judiciary of specialized divisions dealing with corruption cases in order to provide courts handling such cases with additional resources and expertise.
2) Anti-corruption measures in public authorities, including obligations to:
a) maintain corruption risk maps;
b) develop and regularly update anti-corruption strategies and action plans;
c) implement due diligence procedures consisting of a continuous process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating corruption risks, as well as monitoring and reporting on such risks;
d) establish specialized internal control or internal audit units with functional independence from management units and responsible for detecting and preventing risks of fraud and corruption;
e) conduct annual public opinion surveys on the perception of corruption and carry out information campaigns aimed at fostering a culture of integrity in the public sector.
3) Anti-corruption measures in organizations: the introduction of an obligation for contractors entering into public contracts for a period exceeding one year to implement internal compliance systems and programs for the prevention of offences aimed at preventing corruption and other crimes.
4) Improvements to public procurement:
a) the requirement to establish procurement committees not only in public authorities but also in public organizations, including state-owned companies and public foundations;
b) the provision of training for members of procurement committees;
c) mandatory use by all participants in procurement procedures of the electronic services of the Public Procurement Platform no later than 1 January 2028;
d) the standardization of data published on the Platform, as well as the mandatory disclosure of more detailed information on procurement procedures, including comparative tables of bids submitted by participants and the scores assigned to them;
e) the publication of information on the application of so-called “integrity pacts” and the results of civic audits of procurement procedures;
f) the creation of a “blacklist” of companies that have been held liable for bribery, influence peddling, or embezzlement and are therefore prohibited from receiving subsidies, state aid, public contracts, or tax benefits for a period of 20 years, with this information to be publicly available;
g) granting the Agency powers to analyze data on contracts published on the Platform using big data technologies and artificial intelligence in order to detect risks of collusion, unlawful splitting of contracts, or other anomalous practices.
5) Improvements to mechanisms for control and asset recovery:
a) the introduction of an obligation to register information on share ownership, successive transfers, and encumbrances of company shares in a new special section of the Commercial Register. Unlike the existing system, this requirement will not be limited to persons holding more than 25% of shares but will apply to all shares, ensuring full traceability through interoperability between the Commercial Register and the Central Register of Beneficial Owners;
b) the introduction of mechanisms such as confiscation of assets without a criminal conviction and the seizure of unlawfully obtained property, allowing assets to be recovered at early stages of investigations and without a conviction.
6) Stricter sanctions for corruption:
a) extending the statute of limitations for corruption offences from five to seven years;
b) increasing the maximum period of disqualification from engaging in business activities from 15 to 20 years, during which individuals will be prohibited from entering into contracts with the state or receiving subsidies or tax benefits;
c) changes to sanctions applicable to legal entities: fines may be imposed for a period of up to 10 years, with the maximum daily rate being the greater of either 50% of the company’s annual income calculated proportionally per day or €20,000;
d) establishing liability for influence peddling in the form of imprisonment for a term of one to four years and a ban on concluding contracts with the public sector for up to 10 years;
e) introducing a rule whereby persons convicted of corruption offences may not benefit from third-degree prison status until they have fully compensated the misappropriated funds, including accrued interest.
7) Protection of whistleblowers:
a) all authorities must establish internal reporting channels;
b) the period during which whistleblowers retain the status of protected persons will be extended to five years after they cease their duties;
c) whistleblowers will have the right to claim compensation for damage suffered as a result of reprisals, including moral damages.
8) Financing of political parties:
a) the threshold for donations that must be publicly disclosed will be reduced from €25,000 to €2,500, and such information must be published on the party’s website within one month of receipt;
b) political parties receiving subsidies or public funds exceeding €50,000 will be required to undergo an independent external audit, and stricter sanctions will apply in cases of non-compliance.