On the 4th of December 2024, another national meeting under the newly created EU network against corruption took place in Portugal at the premises of the European Commission Representation in Lisbon.

As part of the EU network against corruption the Commission hosts national meetings to provide an opportunity for EU Member States’ anti-corruption stakeholders to engage in dialogue and raise awareness on anti-corruption issues. The EU network against corruption, set up as part of the EU anti-corruption adopted on 3 May 2023, brings together national authorities, practitioners, civil society, international organisations, EU agencies and relevant services of the European Commission.

This meeting in Portugal focussed on challenges regarding the corruption prevention regime and implementing the national anti-corruption strategy.

In the first round of the workshop, participants discussed these challenges. Insight were clustered into four topics, which were resources and means, evaluation and monitoring, knowledge and collaboration and organisational culture. In a second round participants engaged in a Pro-Action Dialogue session. The aim of this was to identify actionable steps based on the clustered topics. For each topic the participants discussed underlying challenges and short- and long-term strategies to achieve progress.

The session concluded with a summary of the clustered topics and a personal reflection on the workshop’s outcomes and possible next steps. As a final note, participants highlighted the importance of giving continuity to the initiative and extending the dialogue beyond the workshop, for example through engaging additional key stakeholders in future workshops to broaden perspectives and strengthen collaboration.