The European Commission has urged the Government to convert the announced anti-corruption reforms into effective results. The 2026 Rule of Law Report, published this Friday, acknowledges several measures promoted during the last year, although it considers that the practical application of existing norms has not yet improved.
As 'ElConstitucional.es' reported yesterday, Brussels focuses its main warnings on the control of high-ranking officials, asset declarations, the regulation of lobbying groups, and the duration of major corruption proceedings. The definitive document confirms the central lines of the draft and specifies six recommendations for Spain.
The evaluation also contains important acknowledgments for the Executive. The Commission appreciates significant progress in strengthening the status of the Attorney General of the State and in access to public information. It also values the reinforcement of judicial and prosecutorial staff, the first results of the Efficiency Law, and the high level of digitalization of Spanish Justice.
The anti-corruption plan is still awaiting results
The report acknowledges the approval of the State Plan to Combat Corruption, presented by Pedro Sánchez in the summer of 2025, as well as the processing of the future Public Integrity Law. This latter norm aims to bring together in an independent body several competencies that are currently distributed among different institutions.
Brussels considers that these initiatives are moving in the right direction, but calls for accelerating their processing and implementation. The Commission concludes that the practical application of existing rules "has not improved", despite the formal progress of legislative projects.
The future supervisory body must have autonomy, sufficient budget, and the capacity to detect and impose sanctions. The Commission wants it to be able to act in the face of possible conflicts of interest or asset irregularities without relying solely on external complaints or on information provided by the high-ranking officials themselves.
The Independent Whistleblower Protection Authority appears as another of the bodies that need more resources. Since September 2025, it has received around 400 communications, while budgetary limitations have prevented it from completing its staff. Brussels calls for guaranteeing effective protection for those who report possible fraud or irregularities within administrations.
Lobbies continue without complete regulation
Spain still has pending the approval of a law regulating the activity of pressure groups. The project was approved by the Council of Ministers in January 2025, but it has not yet completed its journey in Congress.
The Commission describes the progress made in this area as "limited" and again calls for a public and mandatory register of lobbyists. The future regulation should allow knowing which entities try to influence public decisions, with which officials they meet, and what interests they represent.
The document also points out shortcomings in the transparency of foundations linked to parties and in the monitoring of certain electoral accounts. Public procurement continues to be among the areas most exposed to possible irregular practices, especially in service contracts and in those procedures that receive a single offer.
34% of Spanish tenders are resolved with a single participant, compared to the 27% average in the European Union. Nearly 40% of the companies surveyed also believe that corruption has prevented them from obtaining a public contract during the last three years.
A social perception that continues to deteriorate
The report places Spain with 55 points out of 100 in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. The country ranks 17th among the Twenty-Seven and 49th in the world ranking. The score has dropped six points since 2021.
The Commission notes that 92% of Spaniards believe that corruption is widespread, compared to the community average of 71%. 53% claim to feel personally affected in their daily lives, while the European average is 30%.
Perception is also negative among companies. 85% of Spanish companies believe that corruption is widespread and 62% see it as a problem for developing their activity. Brussels uses these indicators to measure public trust in institutions, although these are perception surveys and not a count of crimes or convictions.
Brussels recognizes the strengthening of Justice
The judicial chapter leaves some of the most favorable assessments for the Government. The Commission highlights the creation of 500 judicial positions and another 200 for prosecutors, the largest joint expansion of staff carried out so far in Spain.
Brussels also appreciates the first effects of the Efficiency Law, which replaced the old single-judge courts with Courts of First Instance and promoted conciliation mechanisms before going to court. The entry of civil cases has been notably reduced, although differences persist in the application of the reform between autonomous communities.
Digitalization receives another positive assessment. Tools such as the Justice Folder or the improvements introduced in the Civil Registry have placed Spain among the most advanced countries in the Union, although the lack of connection between some state and regional systems continues to cause difficulties.
The Commission also considers that there has been "significant progress" in strengthening the status of the Attorney General of the State. The reform currently being processed extends their mandate to five years to prevent it from coinciding with the political cycle of the Government that proposes it. Brussels calls for completing this temporal separation and guaranteeing the autonomy of the Public Prosecutor's Office in accordance with European standards.
The Government claims its reformist agenda
Executive sources have highlighted that the European Commission positively values the agenda promoted to improve the functioning of the public justice service. The Government focuses on the expansion of staff, the Efficiency Law, the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary, and the procedural reforms that continue in Congress.
Moncloa also emphasizes European recognition of digitalization and the planned changes in the Criminal Procedure Law. The Executive maintains that the ongoing reforms will allow investigations to be streamlined, strengthen the autonomy of the Public Prosecutor's Office, and reduce the duration of the most complex procedures.
The Government admits that several decisive norms remain pending parliamentary approval. Among them are the Public Integrity Law, the regulation of lobbies, the Open Administration Law, and the new legislation on official secrets.
Macro-cases still take too long
Brussels appreciates "some progress" in the fight against high-level corruption thanks to increased staff and initiated legislative reforms. The excessive duration of major investigations continues, however, to be among the main concerns of the Community Executive.
The Commission attributes these delays to the complexity of cases with numerous investigated parties, difficulties in obtaining documentation from other countries, and the slowness of some expert reports. Therefore, it calls for accelerating procedural reform and providing judges and prosecutors with sufficient tools to prevent procedures from lasting more than a decade.
The report primarily analyzes institutional activity recorded during 2025 and does not assess the responsibility of specific individuals in currently open cases. Its examination focuses on Spain's capacity to prevent, investigate, and sanction possible irregularities.
A call for respect among the powers of the State
The Commission again notes the concern of judges, professional associations, and judicial bodies regarding statements by political leaders against certain resolutions or magistrates. Brussels warns that personal attacks can erode citizens' trust in Justice.
The report also points out that some members of the judiciary have made public statements against political representatives and recalls that several actions are being studied by the Disciplinary Commission of the CGPJ. The European recommendation extends to the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary itself, demanding mutual respect to protect the functioning of institutions.
The Commission considers that criticizing a judicial resolution is part of democratic debate. The limit appears when these statements compromise the independence of the courts or present judges' decisions as a result of interests unrelated to the procedure.
Warnings about public media
The chapter dedicated to freedom of the press includes complaints submitted by different organizations about possible risks of political interference in national and regional public media. The Government defends the ordinary functioning of RTVE after its last reform, while some professional bodies of the corporation have warned of a deterioration of editorial independence.
Brussels recognizes progress in the reform of institutional advertising and access to information. It also calls for improved transparency regarding media ownership and strengthened protection for journalists against harassment, threats, and abusive lawsuits.
The Commission respects the European endorsement of the amnesty
The report incorporates the two rulings issued this Thursday by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the amnesty law. The European Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, has assured that the Commission "respects and abides by" the court's decisions, which ruled out the general incompatibility of the norm with Community law in the matters analyzed.
Other preliminary questions are still pending, and it will be up to the Spanish courts to apply the European resolutions. The Commission will continue to monitor their development within the annual review of the rule of law.
Brussels' next review will measure how many of the pending reforms have managed to pass parliamentary procedure and function on the ground. The sanctioning capacity of the new integrity body, the regulation of lobbies, the protection of whistleblowers, and the reduction of judicial times will mark the next European examination of the Government.
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