Strengthen institutional integrity of Murcia region (ES0069)

What is the problem/need that is desired to resolve with the commitment? The System of Institutional Integrity of the Murcia Region is oriented towards the citizenship and civil society so that they receive a new policy that generates higher levels of confidence and affection towards politics and the regional public institutions. It is an essentially preventative instrument, aimed at improving the ethical infrastructure of the regional public administration, preventing corruption and inappropriate public conducts by people responsible for the public, and as a result, to consolidate the citizenship's trust in the regional institutions in accordance with the Recommendation of the Council regarding public integrity of the OECD, Recommendation C (2017) 5 of 26 January 2017.

Objectives of the commitment The CARM is processing a Public Governance Strategy that will promote the strategic lines that the Regional Government is seeking to carry out in this legislature regarding administrative regeneration and modernisation, improving the quality of services, consolidation of the electronic administration, simplification of administrative procedures, and of course, in terms of good governance, prevention of corruption, ethics and public integrity. Lastly, in relation to the aforementioned measures, it seeks to fully articulate in this legislature an advanced framework of public integrity which based on the standards of objectivity, efficiency, transparency and impartiality, reinforces the ethical values in the Regional Administration and contributes to prevent bad practises and inappropriate conduct that could negatively damage the image that the citizenship perceives of our institutions, its officials and civil servants. This institutional integrity framework must include all the necessary elements of these instruments:  Codes of conduct oriented towards specific groups (senior officials, civil servants).  Codes of good practises oriented towards certain typical administrative actions, such as public contracting or the subsidising activity of the ARM.  Dissemination and training actions.  Consultation, communication and whistleblower channels for inappropriate conduct.  Enforcement instruments and bodies that control compliance of the system, such as the establishment of an Institutional Ethics Commission, as an independent collegiate body with function autonomy in charge of guaranteeing the uniform interpretation and effective compliance of the system and its different elements.  Monitoring and system evaluation processes that guarantee feedback and continuous improvement. And thus, with its approval, the Autonomous Community of Murcia undertakes to: a) Foster the culture of integrity in exercising the public functions, as well as in those entities or people who participate in the provision of public services through the appropriate training and dissemination actions. b) Develop the necessary instruments and elements of this Integrity Framework (codes, ethics mailbox, Institutional Ethics Committee, etc.) so that the implementation of the culture of integrity is effective and efficient. 157 In parallel, as a complement to this System and in order to guarantee that the public decisions are made transparently and exhaustively, a Registry of Lobbies will be implemented in the CARM, in which those entities who wish to maintain relations with senior officials and public officers of the ARM must be registered.

Brief description of the commitment Implementation of all own elements of an Institutional Integrity Framework in the ARM (codes of conduct; ethics channels; training, dissemination and promotion; system enforcement bodies; etc.), as well as a Registry of Lobbies.

How does the commitment contribute to solve the problem or cover the need? Following the OECD's scheme of the "Institutional Integrity Framework", it seeks to articulate an "ethics infrastructure" that incorporates not only a Code of Ethics and a Code of Conduct, but also systems of dissemination and training on ethical values; consultation channels regarding ethical dilemmas or communicating unethical conducts; enforcement bodies, and finally, an evaluation system and monitoring of the system itself.

Why is the commitment relevant with respect to the values of Open Government? The system of institutional integrity allows strengthening and reinforcing the ethical values in the public institutions. For that reason, it not only reinforces the trust of the citizenship in the public institutions and public actors, but the transparency and accountability of the Administration itself, with the participation of public actors and the citizenship as a whole. In this way, it allows raising awareness among senior officials and civil servants regarding the values of open government, improving the transparency, participation and accountability among the citizenship.

Additional information Regardless of the fact that, complying with its self‐regulatory nature, its approval and basic development are carried out through the Agreement of the Governing Council, there is no doubt that the implementation of certain elements of efficacy of the system require, prior to the approval of a standard currently being processed, that it provides legal security to the framework of integrity. More information about legal processing: See http://wwwold.asambleamurcia.es/armnet/iniciativas.jsp (10L/PPL‐ 0012 Proposition of the Law on Open Government, Public Integrity and Fight against Corruption (Registration No. 201900001966)) In relation to the start and end dates of each one of the activities that are proposed in the commitment, even if they establish as end dates those of the plan itself in certain actions, it must be indicated that the dissemination and training activities will have a permanent character once the System is approved, and that the monitoring, evaluation and revision activities will be carried out with the frequency that is determined once the Institutional Ethics Commission is operating.

Activities of the commitment Start date Date End Processing and approval by the Governing Council of the Public Governance Strategy of the ARM. 10/2020 11/2020 Processing and approval of the Law on Open Government, Public Integrity and Fight against Corruption. 10/2020 06/2021 Agreement of the Governing Council approving the implementation of the System of Institutional Integrity of the ARM. 06/2021 08/2021 Preparation, approval and publication of a new Code of Conduct of Senior Officials. 08/2021 09/2021 Preparation, approval and publication of the Code of Good Practices in administrative contracting. 08/2021 10/2021 158 Preparation, approval and publication of the Code of Conduct of civil servants. 08/2021 12/2021 Development and implementation of the ethics mailbox and channel. 08/2021 12/2021 Regulation and implementation of the Registry of Lobbies. 06/2021 12/2021 Nomination, designation and implementation of the Institutional Ethics Commission. 08/2021 01/2022 Dissemination and training activities of the Integrity System. 06/2021 09/2024 Monitoring, evaluation and revision of the System 12/2022 09/2024