Training for detection and prevention of bid rigging in public procurement
On the 8th of November 2024, experts from the “Antitrust and concentrations” Directorate of the Commission on protection of competition organized a training for their colleagues from the Directorate of “Public procurement and concessions” on the topic of “Detection, prevention and countering bid rigging in public procurement”. One of the reasons behind this event was that the Commission is designated not only as an authority that aims to protect competition, but also as a first instance review body over the public procurement procedures.
The experts from the “Public procurement and concessions” Directorate received detailed information on the content of the “Guidelines for fighting bid rigging in public procurement”, the main forms of bid rigging, the indicators which have to be observed in order to detect the presence of this type of restrictive practices and some relevant examples from the antitrust practice of the CPC. The aim of the training was to further develop the expertise of the “Public procurement and concessions” Directorate, which would lead to the successful identification of possible indicators of bid rigging during the review of the legality of the contracting authorities' acts.
By being able to identify the presence of bid rigging in public procurement procedures, the experts from the Directorate would support the work of the “Antitrust” department of the Commission, and increase the work effectiveness of the institution as a whole.
The training seminar was yet another step in fulfilling one of the main objectives of the Commission in recent years - to counter bid rigging in public procurement. It complements the Commission’s activities in the ongoing project of the OECD, which is entitled “Fighting bid rigging in public procurement: increase compliance with competition law and promote competition in public contracts”. The project is funded by the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM).
The next step in that direction is the Seminar on fighting bid rigging in public procurement, organized by the Commission and the OECD, where contracting authorities will be able to get a valuable insight on this kind of restrictive practices. It will take place on the 21st and 22nd of November 2024 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
More information on the project and the activities around it, can be found using the following link: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/projects/fighting-bid-rigging-in-public-procurement-in-austria-bulgaria-croatia-cyprus-greece-and-romania.html.
