03.06.11
Anti-corruption in Public Procurement
Balancing the policies
Sofia, Bulgaria, Center for the Study of Democracy | 89 pages | Anti-Corruption in Public Procurement
The analysis focuses on the implications of governance failures in procurement as experienced in two countries of quite different corruption propensities - Norway and Bulgaria - for the European anti-corruption and public procurement policies. The paper intends to inform the development of the expected EU policy updates in these areas by analyzing the trade-offs that are necessitated when combining competition and anti-corruption goals.
>> Summary
With the growth of central and local public institutions in modern industrialized countries, public procurement has become a significant macroeconomic variable.
The EU strategies for economic development associate a number of expectations with government purchasing. Specific Union legislation in this field has been around for over 40 years but has only fairly recently included an anti-corruption provision per se – banning companies convicted of corruption in bidding for public contracts.
Current policy deliberations, which should lead to a “modernization” of EU procurement rules by 2012, are inconclusive about possible expansion of corruption provisions. A major challenge to be tackled in this respect is the compatibility of anti-corruption policies with other considerations, such as compliance costs, administrative burdens, and, crucially, with the promotion of competition.
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