National Anticorruption Mechanism recommends reinforced risk control in public procurement

The National Anticorruption Mechanism (MENAC) has published Recommendation No. 9/2026, which warns all contracting authorities and public contractors about the corruption risks arising from the amendments to the Public Contracts Code (CCP) in effect since October 1, 2026. The document, signed by the president of MENAC, José Mouraz Lopes, was approved at a board meeting on October 29 and published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 215, of November 5, 2026, in Part E, dedicated to independent administrative entities.

The recommendation stems from Decree-Law No. 177/2026, of September 4, which introduced significant changes to the CCP. MENAC identifies five changes that alter the risk profile: the flexibility and simplification of procedures, the change in applicable thresholds, the repeal of the requirement for a declaration of non-existence of conflict of interest, the reinforcement of digitalization, and the greater weight of the planning phase.

According to the body, these changes “modify the context in which these risks must be prevented and controlled.” The text further recalls that the General Regime for the Prevention of Corruption (RGPC), approved as an annex to Decree-Law No. 109-E/2021, of December 9, already obliges the covered entities to identify, analyze, and classify risks, to adopt preventive and corrective measures, to have internal control systems, and to prevent and manage conflicts of interest.

Documenting market consultations

The recommendation is addressed, first and foremost, to all contracting authorities and public contractors covered by the CCP, with nine concrete duties. The second obliges the reinforcement of internal control in the preparatory phase, especially in preliminary market consultations, spontaneous initiatives, and free or temporary tests of information systems and technologies provided for in Article 35-C of the CCP.

Entities must document the interactions established, identify the participants, prevent and manage conflicts of interest, and ensure equal access to relevant information, avoiding undue competitive advantages. In a specific recommendation regarding spontaneous initiatives, MENAC asks that the risk of the economic operator’s influence on the definition of the public need, technical specifications, or the contractual solution be considered.

Conflicts of interest in all phases

The document requires the prevention, identification, and effective management of conflicts of interest throughout all phases of the procedure, with mechanisms for the declaration, communication, and treatment of identified situations, timely measures to safeguard impartiality, and the recording of decisions made. This obligation is articulated with Article 1-A of the CCP, Article 13 of the RGPC, and the impartiality guarantee regime of the Administrative Procedure Code.

Internal control must extend to the execution of contracts, covering:

• the actions of contract managers;
• contractual modifications;
• subcontracting and the assignment of the contractual position;
• other changes capable of modifying the initially identified risk profile.

MENAC also requests that the risks of using digital systems and artificial intelligence in the preparation, formation, or execution of contracts be considered in the risk assessment. Requirements for transparency, explainability, human oversight, traceability, security, information protection, and the management of conflicts of interest linked to suppliers or technological solutions must be weighed.

Thresholds, splitting, and prevention plans

Among the nine duties, MENAC requires mechanisms that detect the artificial fragmentation of expenditure, specifically services of the same type capable of constituting the object of a single contract or separated by different organic units. Entities must also reassess the risks associated with the increase in procedural thresholds, justify the choice of procedure, and monitor the concentration of awards, pursuant to Article 16 of the RGPC.

The second part of the recommendation is addressed to the entities covered by the RGPC, which must reassess the risks of public procurement procedures and, when justified, update the Corruption and Related Offenses Risk Prevention Plans (PPR). They must also articulate the obligations of the RGPC with the submission of the PPR by the contractor, as provided for in Article 81, paragraph 9, of the CCP.

The document also involves the oversight, control, and inspection bodies, called upon to verify the adequacy and effectiveness of the prevention mechanisms, and the political decision-maker, to whom an ex post legislative evaluation of the regime of Decree-Law no. 177/2026 is suggested. The recommendation does not set an execution deadline, but insists on monitoring the effectiveness of the measures and updating the prevention instruments whenever the application of the new rules justifies it.

In practice, the notice morally binds municipalities, hospitals, universities, public institutes, and all other purchasing entities to demonstrate, in writing, how they control interaction with economic operators and conflicts of interest — a matter that now becomes a mandatory verification point in audits and inspections.

Source: Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 215, of November 5, 2026, Part E (independent administrative entities and autonomous administration), pages 1/3 to 3/3 (official reference: Recommendation no. 9/2026, record 320059225).