1. Good governance and fighting misuse of public money in public procurement
Bucharest, 7 September 2017
Inguna Kramiņa
DG Regional and Urban Policy
Unit "Competence Centre for Administrative Capacity Building; Solidarity Fund"

2. 15 % of EU GDP channelled trough public procurement
Cohesion policy and national co-financing as % of total public investment

3. Public Procurement Action Plan
To coordinate actions more effectively, the ESIF DGs and DG GROW, together with the EIB elaborated Public Procurement Action Plan
The 2nd revision was adopted in March 2017
The current update of the PP Action Plan contains
18 actions ( follow-up actions)
Focus on preventive actions!
Spread knowledge of EU PP rules at the level of all stakeholders
Reinforce administrative capacity
Better preparation of tenders and projects
Reduce error rate

4. Study on PP administrative capacity
Overview of good practice and
recommendations on public
procurement to the EC
and Member States
Available at: policy/en/policy/how/improving-investment/
public-procurement/study/
Stages and outputs:
Desk review of all 28 MS
Field visits in 15 MS
Case studies of reform: PT and CZ
On-line survey with practitioners in all 28 MS
Good practices and recommendations in final report (Part I)
28 Country profiles in Part II

5. Follow up Study: on Public Procurement good practice sharing across the EU
Main deliverables:
e-library of good practices;
Feasibility studies for a selected number of good practices;
Step-by-step roadmaps;
Awareness raising.
Stages and outputs:
Desk review of all 28 MS
Field visits in 15 MS
Case studies of reform: PT and CZ
On-line survey with practitioners in all 28 MS
Good practices and recommendations in final report (Part I)
28 Country profiles in Part II

6. Public Procurement Guidance for Practitioners
Guidance structured around the 6 main stages of a public procurement process based on list of 25 most common errors identified in audits
Toolkit of resources addressing specific topics with concrete examples, checklist, links
Updated version of the Guidance document is in preparation! (it will take into account new PP Directives)

7. ARACHNE
Data-mining IT tool developed by EC and offered to Managing Authorities for free
(1) Strengthens Management and Control Systems: allows for a continuous monitoring of internal and external data regarding projects, beneficiaries and contracts/contractors
 Public procurement is one of the key areas monitored
(2) Is expected to lead to lower error rates and number of fraud cases
The Commission has developed a powerful IT data mining tool called ARACHNE and strongly encourages Member States to make use of it. This tool allows combining ESI Funds monitoring data with external databases (on companies, politically exposes persons, criminal records) and helps managing authorities to identify projects with higher risks which require a closer scrutiny. It allows Member States to carry out management verifications and audits in a more targeted and efficient way. It is a concrete tool and is offered to Member States free of charge.
Public procurement is one of the key areas being monitored with a help of a range of indicators.

8. Integrity Pacts – pilot project
Current status:
12 IPs signed;
2 IPs in preparation;
3 IPs delayed

9. What is an Integrity Pact?
2 key elements:
(1) Agreement between Contracting Authority (beneficiary, project owner) and bidders to abstain from corrupt practices and conduct a transparent procurement
(2) External independent Monitor – NGO – monitors that all parties comply with commitments
a collaborative tool
preventive
flexible
A tool developed during the 1990s by Transparency International and later OECD;
Has been implemented around the world in more than 300 contracting processes;
It is estimated that it could save up to 30% of a project costs

10. Key benefits of Integrity Pacts for Regional Policy
Contributes to increased efficiency and effectiveness of public investments (Cohsion policy)
Acts as preventive early warning system for irregularities
Improves the communication between contractor, local stakeholders and general public
Strengthens reputation of public body as reliable, transparent contracting authority
Increase in trust
Can lead to cost savings
Can reduce the total implementation period

11. Taking forward integrity policy in PP: current work strands
Single Market Strategy (SMS)
Professionalization policy
Country strategies for comprehensive reform of PP systems in selected MS
Better data:
(Reporting obligations under Art. 83 – 85)
Improve data from procurement notices (eForms)
Support collection of data below EU thresholds
Contract registers
EU database on irregularities
Promote data analytics and analysis

12. Europe’s regional CRI map:
Corruption Risk Index averages across the EU/EEA TED data

13. Integrity Pacts project:
Public procurement on InfoRegio "Improving investment"
Integrity Pacts project: