Portugal said to be 5th most corrupt

Oh , come on...
There's another country where it's fine for the prime minister to have affairs with American women and give them 'gifts' at the taxpayers expense. Not to mention the dodgy Brexit money, funnelling of laundered cash to its overseas territories, planning decisions seeping with bribes, a media that is essentially state propaganda, and large scale contracts given to politician's friends of friends. Small scale bribery is better than the kind of imbedded, high level kind you get in UK.

By Justin from Lisbon on 07 Feb 2020, 15:12

Portugal may not be the 5th most corrupt country in the world but its well up there. From national to local government corruption is endemic. It's not what you know it's who you know.
Want to get some work done to your property but it might not be within regulations, simply contact an engineer or legal professional who has the "right contacts" in the local Camara, pay a "fee" and everyone turns a blind eye, and that's the way it works at all levels of government.

By Brian from Other on 11 Feb 2020, 14:02

Corruption is reportedly widespread in Portugal’s public procurement sector too. Companies perceive favoritism in decisions of government officials and diversion of public funds to be common (GCR 2017-2018). A significant majority of companies believe that corruption is common among both national and regional authorities (Source: European Commission, Feb. 2014). Procedural irregularities that lead to abuses in the awarding of public tenders are a recurring problem for the municipalities, and represent a potential risk to private companies (EUACR 2014). For instance, more than one-third of Portuguese companies refrained from taking part in tenders due to the perceived tailor-made criteria, while almost half report that corruption prevented them from winning a tender or contract (European Commission, Feb. 2014). Around one-third complained of impossible deadlines, collusive bidding and of deals being agreed upon beforehand, while more than two-thirds reported conflicts of interest in the evaluation of bids, and abuse of emergency grounds to get around competitive procedures (European Commission, Feb. 2014, EUACR 2014). Weak monitoring systems prevent officials from identifying conflicts of interest and favoritism in tender decisions (EUACR 2014). Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are widely used by the government to launch public contracts for the building of hospitals, water systems and road construction (EUACR 2014). Weaknesses are demonstrated by insufficient transparency in tender procedures, shortcomings in project evaluations, and unclear reasoning behind award decisions (EUACR 2014). To mitigate this scenario, the government has strengthened the Court of Auditors’ auditing powers and capacity to perform ante and post control of public contracts (EUACR 2014). The defense sector is also highly vulnerable to procurement fraud (Source: GDACI 2015). An investigation into fraud in the provision of food to Air Force mess halls is underway (HRR 2016). The case, dubbed as “Operation Zeus” is said to have cost the state as much as EUR 10 million over inflated food prices (Portugal Resident, Jul. 2017). Sixteen people were arrested in the case, including high ranked Air Force officers and a major general (Portugal Resident, Jul. 2017). Companies are recommended to implement special due diligence procedures to counter the likelihood of encountering corruption in Portugal’s procurement process.

In respect to Portuguese courts, the inefficiency of the Portuguese legal system - including the appeal courts - is well known to practitioners and investors alike. According to the statistics made available by the Department for Justice Policies (source: DGPJ), the number of appeals that are finalised each year in Portugal’s appeal courts has slightly risen from 33,930 in 2013 to 35,776 in 2016. The figures for 2017 are not yet available, however, the number of cases that have entered the system has increased from 33,634 in 2013 to 36,661 in 2016. In other words, the efficiency improvements are seen as weak and are outweighed by the increasing demand, fuelled by years of economic stagnation within Portugal. Although practitioners, politicians and investors agree that the inefficiency of the court system impairs investment and growth, it seems unlikely that the reforms and investment needed to turn the situation around are close at hand, which has led to the increase in alternative means of dispute resolution, such as arbitration. According to the 2017 EU Justice Scoreboard, the average time for a first-instance court to rule on a commercial or civil case in Portugal is just over 700 days. This means that it is common to see cases in first-instance courts drag on for three to four years, or even more. This is because of inefficiency of the system as a whole as well as a high number of pending cases. According to the Scoreboard, Portugal is among EU countries with the highest score in the number of pending civil and commercial cases, with 12 cases per 100 inhabitants, against just two in France and six in Italy.

By PJ from Porto on 19 Jul 2020, 10:00

FUN FACT: Portugal is the poorest country in Europe and there is violence at the Soups for the Poor for their 1 meal per day for 75% of the population.

https://www.cmjornal.pt/portugal/detalhe/jovem-de-29-anos-ataca-policia-na-sopa-dos-pobres-em-lisboa

Also, youth don't work in Portugal because there are NO jobs. And, thanks to Covid the unemployment in Portugal now has skyrocketed to 66% and since the country is comprised mostly of small business, they are virtually all but gone out of business! Compliments of the economic recession we just entered this past week.

It is no small wonder why everybody is leaving portu-hell and going to the third world of Angola or Mozambique where they can live a better life.

By Movimento Popular Nacionalista from Alentejo on 01 Jan 2021, 10:50