The Council of Ministers this April approved a set of diplomas for the prevention and fight against corruption:

It was approved (in general) the decree-law establishing the National Anti-corruption Mechanism, as an independent administrative entity, with legal personality under public law, endowed with administrative and financial autonomy, which is active in the field of prevention of corruption and related infractions.

This decree also creates the general regime for the prevention of corruption, requiring the adoption of compliance programmes (risk prevention programmes, codes of conduct, reporting channels and training programmes) by private and public entities;

Also approved the draft law, to be submitted to the Assembly of the Republic, which aims to adopt a set of measures provided for in the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, particularly in terms of waiving and reducing the penalty and provisional suspension of proceedings for crimes of receiving and offering undue advantage and corruption, the statute of limitations for criminal proceedings, the additional penalty of suspending the exercise of functions, the connection of criminal proceedings and agreements on the applicable penalty, the criminal liability of legal persons, the concept of official for the purposes of criminal law and corporate crimes;

Two bills/proposals have also been submitted to Parliament, transposing the following European Union Directives into national law:

1. Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law. This proposal is intended to ensure an effective and balanced level of protection for whistleblowers of breaches of Union law, through, on the one hand, (i) the establishment of complaint channels and, on the other, (ii) the prohibition of any form of retaliation and the establishment of protection and support measures for whistleblowers;

       2. Directive (EU) No 2019/1153, which lays down rules to facilitate the use of financial and other information for the prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of certain criminal offences.