Anti‑Corruption and Integrity Outlook 2026: Portugal
Table of contents
Portugal’s National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2020-2024 and its Action Plan have expired. In the interim period before the formal adoption of the new Strategy for 2025–2028 and its related Action Plan, the Government approved the Anti-Corruption Agenda on 20 June 2024. This approval was granted by the Council of Ministers, the executive body’s main decision-making collective, chaired by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice.
The National Anti-Corruption Mechanism (MENAC) is the central co-ordination function responsible for co-ordinating the implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation activities of the action plan of the National Strategy to Combat Corruption. The Constitutional Court monitors compliance with conflict-of-interest regulations for political officials, while the Attorney General’s Office has similar responsibilities for senior public officials. The Entity of Political Accounts and Financing is the independent body that works with the Constitutional Court and is responsible for supervising the accounts of political parties and election campaigns. https://www.tcontas.pt/pt-pt/Pages/homepage.aspxThe Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (CADA) is responsible for public information issues while the National Communications Authority (ANACOM), Media Regulatory Authority (ERC), Agency for Administrative Modernisation (AMA), Transparency and Integrity, Civic Association (TI-PT) have responsibilities regarding open data policy. There is no dedicated body responsible for lobbying issues.
Note: 2025 and 2020 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026)
Data on where Portugal’s integrity system is strongest and could be most improved can be found at the link below:
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Portugal fulfils 20% of criteria on the strength of strategic framework, and 0% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 38% and 32%, respectively.
The National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2020-2024 and its Action Plan have expired. However, ahead of formal adoption of the new Strategy for 2025-2028 and its related action plan, the Government approved the Anti-Corruption Agenda on 20 June 2024. This approval was made by the Council of Ministers, the executive body’s primary decision-making collective chaired by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice. The Anti-Corruption Agenda comprises a set of 32 measures across corruption prevention, education and repression, accompanied by a technical report detailing proposals for implementation, including concrete legislative, administrative, and institutional actions to strengthen corruption prevention mechanism. The Anti-Corruption Agenda has strategic objectives to mitigate integrity risks in human resource management and public procurement.
However, the Anti-Corruption Agenda does not contain any outcome-level indicators, did not undergo a public consultation process and there are no action plans in force.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
As measured against OECD standards on lobbying, on average OECD countries fulfil 43% of criteria on lobbying regulations, and 38% on practice. However, at the time of the assessment Portugal did not fulfil any criteria on regulations and practice to mitigate corruption risks related to lobbying, as there were no dedicated regulations on lobbying in place.
However, Portugal has adopted Law No. 5-A/2026, a new lobbying transparency law that will enter into force 180 days after its publication, i.e. on 29 July 2026. This law will define lobbying and lobbyists, establish a mandatory public transparency register, introduce disclosure obligations for interest representation activities, and provide for sanctions and enforcement mechanisms.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Portugal fulfils 100% of criteria on conflict-of-interest regulations and 44% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 80% and 45%, respectively.
The Code of Administrative Procedure define circumstances and relationships that can lead to conflict-of-interest situations for public officials, institutional responsibilities, and compliance and verification procedures for interest declarations. Additionally, Law N. 52/2019 establishes that ministers, members of parliament, all public employees, and judges of the Constitutional Court and the Court of Auditors, Ombudsman and members of the Superior Councils must submit an interest declaration. This law further defines proportional sanctions for breaches of conflict-of-interest provisions.
In practice, all interest declarations are submitted electronically, and declarations are verified according to a risk-based approach. However, although 100% of members of government submitted interest declarations between 2019-2024 and all top-tier civil servants submitted declarations between 2021-2024, there is no data available on the number of interest declarations submitted by high-ranking judges.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Portugal fulfils 80% of criteria on political finance regulations, and 86% of criteria on practice, compared to the OECD averages of 76% and 58%, respectively.
Law N. 19/2003 bans contributions from foreign states, foreign enterprises, and publicly owned enterprises, but anonymous donations are permitted under a certain threshold. Cash donations are permitted only if they amount to less than 25% of the national monthly minimum wage. Law N. 19/2003 also defines sanctions for breaches of political finance and election campaign rules in proportion to the severity of the offence. Additionally, political parties must publish annual and election campaign finance reports.
In practice, an independent body, Entity of Accounts and Political Funding, has the mandate to oversee the financing of election campaigns and political parties and has certified auditors on its payroll. All political parties have submitted annual accounts within the timelines defined by national legislation for the past five years., and financial reports from all political parties are publicly available in a user-friendly format. However, not all political parties have submitted accounts within the timelines defined by national legislation for the past two election cycles.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Portugal fulfils 89% of criteria on access to public information regulations, and 65% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 72% and 62%, respectively.
Portugal’s Law N. 26/2016 establishes that all public institutions and private persons carrying out public duties are holders of public information, and restrictions applied to access to public information are in line with the Tromsø Convention. Information must be provided in the requested format, and requesters are not required to provide justification for their requests. Law N. 26/2016 also specifies that Government data are ‘’open by default’’ and provides a list of datasets and mandatory information to be disclosed.
In practice, many datasets are publicly available, including consolidated versions of all primary laws, the state budget, the results of the last national elections, legislative proposals of the government, public tenders and their results, company and land registries, and salaries of individual senior civil servants. However, datasets which are not publicly available include government sessions agendas, ministers’ agendas, aggregated data on requests for information, and asset and interest declarations for top-two-tier public employees in the executive branch.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026)
Portugal fulfils 82% of criteria on judicial integrity regulations, and 56% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 66% and 45%, respectively.
The Law No. 21/85 ensures judges’ secure tenure until mandatory retirement, term expiry, or lawful dismissal permitted only on objective grounds such as conviction of a crime or inability to adapt to the demands of the position. It also regulates the procedure for the selection, appointment and promotion of judges and establishes the right of candidates to appeal decisions in these areas. The High Council of the Judiciary is the body responsible for managing judicial careers, including appointments, transfers, promotions, and disciplinary matters. The Council is composed of sixteen members serving non-renewable four-year terms, of whom only seven are judges.
A Code of Conduct regulates ethical standards for judges. Law 52/2019 establishes that judges and members of the highest prosecutorial authorities are required to file declarations of interest upon appointment, renewal, or change of position, but conflict-of-interest scenarios are not defined in law. In addition to these integrity provisions, mechanisms for reporting misconduct are governed by Law No. 93/2021, which establishes a general framework for the protection of whistleblowers reporting infringements. The law transposes Directive (EU) 2019/1937 into the national legal order and sets out requirements for reporting channels and safeguards against retaliation. The High Council of the Judiciary provides information on internal reporting for whistleblowers in the judiciary. Nonetheless, confidentiality training for court personnel handling such reports is not provided.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026)
Portugal fulfils 62% of criteria on prosecutorial integrity regulations, and 47% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 66% and 52%, respectively.
In Portugal, Law No. 68/2019 defines the circumstances and relationships that may give rise to conflicts of interest for prosecutors and establishes corresponding sanctions proportionate to the severity of the offence. The law introduces merit-based and objective procedures for the selection, promotion, and dismissal of prosecutors, and grants candidates the right to appeal related decisions. However, these provisions do not apply to the Attorney General, whose appointment, dismissal, and related decisions remain at the discretion of the President of the Republic in accordance with the Constitution.
Law No. 93/2021 requires all obliged entities, including the Attorney General’s Office, to establish internal reporting channels through which current and former employees may confidentially report suspected breaches. Decree-Law 109-E/2021, as amended by Decree-Law 70/2025, establishes protection against retaliation for whistleblowers. Corruption allegations can be submitted through the Public Prosecutor’s Office website, which serves as a communication channel between the public, the Cybercrime Office, and magistrates for receiving online complaints. However, no information was provided to the OECD regarding whether internal reporting channels for prosecutorial misconduct exist in practice, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office portal does not include a section to submit such complaints. Moreover, staff handling reports in public prosecutors’ offices do not undergo mandatory training on confidentiality.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026)
Portugal fulfils 75% of criteria on disciplinary system for civil servants regulations, and 0% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 66% and 22%, respectively.
The Public Employment Law approved by Law no. 35/2014, sets out the disciplinary procedures for civil servants, establishes a range of disciplinary sanctions for each type of disciplinary offence and establishes a statute of limitations for disciplinary offences. In accordance with the Code of Administrative Procedure, the Law guarantees the right to appeal disciplinary decisions in front of a judicial body after exhausting the administrative remedies. Public Employment Law, approved by Law no. 35/2014 also requires officials responsible for investigating and adjudicating disciplinary cases to notify the judiciary or law enforcement authorities if a case involves suspected criminal conduct.
While a Statistical Bulletin of Public Employment is available, there is no specific information on the number of disciplinary procedures and publicly available data on the number and type of disciplinary sanctions applied against civil servants. There is also no case management system for disciplinary cases and proceedings. Staff responsible for conducting disciplinary investigations do not receive dedicated training on investigative procedures. While the General Directorate on Public Administration and Employment is entrusted with the responsibility of harmonising transversal procedures applicable to public administration, no guidelines were provided on the standardisation of disciplinary procedures.
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The full book is available in English: OECD (2026), Anti-Corruption and Integrity Outlook 2026: Harnessing the Integrity Advantage, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/16708b78-en.
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