Corruption in Portugal

People do corruption because it pays. Strong democratic government can tackle corruption if the voters put it high on the political agenda and there is enough transparency and independent scrutiny on finances. Ultimately it is the will of the people that stops corruption. If enough citizens of a country view corruption as morally unacceptable then it slowly fades away.

Portuguese people themselves know where a decision is tainted by corruption. Example 1: A developer gets planning permission for a large property development in an area that is obviously very environmentally sensitive. Example 2: A foreigner from a deeply corrupt country brings hundreds of millions of dollars into Portugal for 'investment' without adequate explanation and it is clear that would not have been allowed in EU member states with a stronger anti-corruption ethic.

Corruption is not just about large sums of money. It starts at low levels e.g. a police officer gets discounted or free food and drink for 'goodwill' at a small restaurant. Or a small trading business pays a 'fine' to stop a local government inspector investigating something that is not illegal by any reasonable standard. Corruption goes hand-in-hand with widespread tax evasion.

There is also soft opaque corruption. Politicians or civil servants/public employees make decisions in exchange for benefits for them or their families/friends. Well-connected political and economic elites gain advantage from political and social networks where favouritism and biased regulations are difficult to prove and challenge. A slow-moving and expensive bureaucracy and judicial system makes tackling this sort of corruption very difficult indeed.

So how corrupt is Portugal ? By EU standards, corruption in Portugal is unacceptably high. The EU knows it, but takes a long-term view that the weaker member states will slowly converge through economic and political union towards a higher standard on corruption in all its forms.

Portugal has all the factors for endemic corruption. A weak democracy, a bloated public sector, overbearing police, economic problems that make the people fearful of job security. But this is no excuse. Corruption has to be tackled top-down. There is no point in prosecuting low-level officials for corruption if they believe – rightly – that people holding top public sector jobs are playing by different rules. So it all comes back – again – to what the Portuguese people vote for. If they tolerate corruption, it persists. This is not just a question of a “Nothing can really be done” attitude. There is something in the Portuguese national character at play here. Fundamentally they do not distinguish between their democracy and the state. In Portugal, the state is above the people.

The single most important thing Portugal can do to tackle corruption ? A total reform of policing / military / judicial activities. In parallel, a reshaping of government functions at all levels to improve accountability and efficiency. A really big step. One that Portugal needs to make to catch up to where it should be – and prepare better for the future. The best reason to do this is a moral one. The real victims of corruption are the most defenseless in society.