- 90 percent of the Portuguese agree that corruption is widespread in their home country;
- More than three quarters of European citizens agree that corruption is widespread in their home country. Amongst Greeks, that number is 99 percent;
– fewer than one percent of the Portuguese say that they have been asked or expected to pay a bribe in the past year, while the European average is 4 percent;
- 7 percent of Greeks, say that they have been asked or expected to pay a bribe in the past year;
- few Germans have direct experience of bribery, 9 percent of Germans say that they personally know someone who has taken bribes;
- 36 percent of Portuguese citizens consider that they are affected by corruption in their everyday lives.
Portugal: In Portugal, although various anti-corruption initiatives have been implemented over the last decade, including new legislation, there is no comprehensive national anti-corruption strategy in place. In addition, effective prosecution of high-level corruption cases remains a challenge. In this report, the European Commission suggests that Portugal ensures that law enforcement, prosecution and judiciary are well equipped to effectively deal with complex corruption cases, and establishes a convincing track record of corruption cases. Further preventive action against corrupt practices in party funding should be undertaken, and codes of conduct for elected officials should be developed. The Commission is also suggesting that further efforts need to be made to adequately address conflicts of interests and asset disclosure of officials at local levels. Transparency and control mechanisms around public procurement procedures should be strengthened further. Moreover, Portugal should identify risk factors for corruption in local urban planning decisions.
