Public authorities and workers are citizens, and as such we have legitimate private interests. It is inevitable that at some point in our professional career we will find ourselves in a situation where one of these interests enters into conflict with our public duty. At this moment, our professional judgement may really, potentially or apparently be influenced by that interest. Risk situations like this present no problem. The problem lies in not recognising we are in such a situation, and not managing it properly to avoid any bias in the public decision we make on behalf of the citizens.
The Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia (AOC) has published the report "The management of conflicts of interest in the public sector of Catalonia". The report’s coordinator and director of Prevention at the AOC, Òscar Roca, speaks about the subject in the article entitled "Conflicts of interest: a threat to impartiality" (in Spanish).
The Anti-Fraud Office has also organised seminars and prepared a number of materials to help you identify and manage conflicting interests.
Conference on conflicts of interest. Parliament of Catalonia, 24 February 2017
