CPC PARTICIPATED IN THE THIRD SEMINAR ON COMBATING BID RIGGING IN ATHENS, GREECE, AS PART OF THE OECD PROJECT AIMED AT IMPROVING THE COMPETITIVE PROCESS IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
On January 23-24, a representative from the Commission participated in the third seminar, part of the two-year project "Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement: Improving Compliance and Competition in Public Procurement," organized by the Greek Competition Authority. The project is being implemented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and is funded by the European Union under the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) of the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) of the European Commission. The project’s beneficiaries are the national competition authorities of six EU member states: Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, and Croatia. The main objective is to raise awareness among institutions and businesses about the nature and indicators of bid rigging and to improve coordination among all participants in public procurement procedures (contracting authorities, regulatory bodies, businesses).
At the seminar held in Athens, which was aimed at training contracting authorities in Greece, an expert from the Antitrust Department of the CPC introduced the audience to the achievements, challenges, and the latest cases of the Commission in the fight against bid rigging. The presentation highlighted the role of the CPC in public procurement, both as the first instance review body over the public procurement procedures and as an antitrust regulator. The integration of these functions enhances the ability to identify bid rigging, collect evidence, and conduct high-quality expert analysis of manipulation indicators (red flags). Emphasis was placed on the need for effective cooperation between contracting authorities and the antitrust authority to successfully combat bid rigging.
The Commission's efforts in this area, including the adoption of Guidelines for Combating Bid Rigging in Public Procurement Procedures in 2020 and the training of contracting authorities, have led to the development of productive cooperation with contracting authorities. More and more often, authorities identify indicators of manipulation in their procedures and report them to the Commission, which leads to more proceedings and preliminary investigations to identify bid rigging, as well as more decisions sanctioning violators.
Several successfully concluded cases were presented, where the Commission uncovered cartels in the form of bid rigging, based on reports from various contracting authorities in Bulgaria. The attendees were informed about the established red flags, the structure of the cartels, and the responsibility of the violators.
Experts from the Commission are scheduled to participate in the upcoming seminars in Cyprus, Romania, and Croatia, as well as in the next phase of the project, which includes seminars for law enforcement authorities and the private sector.
More information about the project and its developments can be found on the following page: