Portugal Results Report 2021-2023

Nearly half of the nine commitments in Portugal’s second action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... achieved moderate early resultsEarly results refer to concrete changes in government practice related to transparency, citizen participation, and/or public accountability as a result of a commitment’s implementation. OGP’s Inde... More. While the process for co-creating Portugal’s second action plan was highly collaborative, engagement with the Multi-Stakeholder ForumRegular dialogue between government and civil society is a core element of OGP participation. It builds trust, promotes joint problem-solving, and empowers civil society to influence the design, imple... (MSF) and civil society was inconsistent during the implementation period. Government and civil society are working to improve the functions and strengthen representation of the MSF.

Early Results

Four of the nine commitments in Portugal’s second action plan achieved moderate early results. The promising commitmentThrough the Action Plan Review, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) recognizes promising commitments that address a policy area that is important to stakeholders or the national context. Pro... to transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More and civic monitoring of COVID-19 recovery and resilience funding led to the improvement of a dedicated transparency portal to publish this information in open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... formats. However, the participatory component that would have enhanced civic monitoring of the spending of these funds remained largely incomplete. The three other commitments with moderate early results aimed at implementing the single educationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ... portal with relevant education data, making improvements to Portugal’s Open Data Portal, and improving compliance with Portugal’s access to information regime. The five remaining commitments did not have any notable early results.

CompletionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... More

Portugal’s second action plan contained nine commitments. Seven were fully or substantially completed, which is similar to the high completion rate of the first action plan. An ambitious commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... to upgrade the Portuguese register of legal entities’ beneficial owners to international best practice was de facto postponed following a ruling by the Court of JusticeTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi... of the European Union (CJEU) that overturned unlimited public access to beneficial ownershipDisclosing beneficial owners — those who ultimately control or profit from a business — is essential for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, and fighting tax evasion. Technical... More information.

An unclear division of responsibility by institutions to implement some commitment milestones affected implementation in places. For example, the institute managing Portugal’s beneficial ownership register is still awaiting a governmental decision on how to interpret the CJEU ruling at the national level, which could have helped to advance implementation of commitment 7. The Directorate-General for Administration and Public Employment (DGAEP), the institution in charge of the State Organization Information System, and the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (CADA) jointly led commitment 9. However, CADA does not have the authority to designate access to information focal points in every public body, as this responsibility lies with the individual institutions themselves. In the case of commitment 8, authorities managing EU funding related to COVID-19 recovery and resilience were expected to implement Integrity Pacts, but they were not designated to be responsible for implementation of this commitment, and the pacts were not developed.

Participation and Co-Creation

The Administrative Modernization Agency (AMA) is the public agency guiding the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) process in Portugal since the first action plan was adopted. It coordinates the work carried out by the National Network for Open Administration (RNAA), the MSF composed of ten organizations, six from the government and four representing civil society. The RNAA organized an inclusive co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... yet could not maintain consistent participation of public entities and engagement with civil society partners throughout the implementation phase.

Civil society organizations did not take part in the implementation and monitoring of most action plan commitments. The point of contact and civil society representatives have agreed to review the structure and governance of RNAA and are planning to modify its regulations to expand the OGP agenda among public entities and involve a greater and more diversified range of stakeholders outside of government.^[1]

Implementation in context

One public entity mentioned the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as a factor that negatively impacted commitment implementation, in particular by readjusting its plans regarding citizen involvement and consultation.^[2] During the action plan implementation, the OGP point of contact changed and reverted from the Center for Public Sector Innovation—LabX to another department within AMA. There was also a change in the board of directors at AMA during the implementation period.^[3] The process of monitoring commitments by AMA and RNAA changed over the implementation period, which civil society negatively interpreted. Additionally, a civil society representative suggested that legislative elections held in January 2022 might have affected several commitments due to internal reorganizations and staff changes in the ministries.^[4]

[1] Sérgio Pepo Ramos (OGP point of contact, AMA), interview with the IRM, 13 October 2023; Karina Carvalho (TI Portugal), interview with the IRM, 27 October 2023; and Luís Vidigal (PASC), interview with the IRM, 31 October 2023.

[2] TaxPlacing transparency, accountability, and participation at the center of tax policy can ensure that burdens are distributed equitably across society. Technical specifications: Commitments related to c... Authority representatives, interview with the IRM, 13 November 2023.

[3] Patrícia Paralta (OGP point of contact, AMA), written response during pre-publication on 16 February 2024.

[4] Carvalho, interview. Parliamentary electionsImproving transparency in elections and maintaining the independence of electoral commissions is vital for promoting trust in the electoral system, preventing electoral fraud, and upholding the democr... More due for March 2024 may also challenge implementation of the next action plan in a similar manner.