Public Procurement in Austria – Reforms Limiting Corruption (original) (raw)
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Public Procurement in the EU-a tool for innovation or Pandora's Box? A case study on Bulgaria
This essay examines the recent reform in the field of EU Public procurement and attempts to prove its susceptibility to corruption. This is a matter of significant consequences for Member States facing rule of law issues. The question of corruption is put in the context of real life cases from a particular Member State-Bulgaria. The examples selected from this jurisdiction aim at grasping the shortcomings of the current EU public procurement system. Based on the examples used throughout this thesis, a set of recommendations is developed to serve as a basis for future discussion at EU level.
Using Transparency Against Corruption in Public Procurement
The book examines corruption in public procurement in three Member States of the EU, reviewing their different approaches to combating corruption, and the extent to which the transparency principle is applied in their procurement systems. The focus of the work is on the contrast between the unsuccessful procurement legislation of a relatively young Member State (Bulgaria) and its attempt to curb corruption by expanding the scope of application of the transparency principle, and two examples of procurement systems where corruption is limited adequately, without an excess of information procedural requirements (Germany and Austria). The book scrutinizes the transparency rules, procurement participants, and responsible institutions in the award of procurements in these countries. It discusses in detail the types of infringements involving corruption as well as their link to infringements of the transparency principle. It compares and examines the systems of control and appeal against a contracting authority's actions within the various legislative schemes, and highlights the legislative weaknesses which fail to reduce corruption. The comparative analysis between the Bulgarian public procurement system and the German and Austrian systems is carried out through detailed research not only with regard to adherence to the transparency principle, but also to the use of other mechanisms to limit corruption, insofar as these solutions are appropriate and could be adapted in other countries currently lacking sufficient anti-corruption measures.
Contemporary Trends in the Development of the Anti-Corruption Legislation of Republic of Bulgaria
Sciendo, 2019
In 2000, the global policy against the phenomenon of “corruption“ was launched by the United Nations, and in 2003 the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) was adopted, which Bulgaria ratified three years later. Two months after the adoption of this international convention, Bulgaria became part of the European Union. The accession was accompanied by the creation of “specific accompanying measures” aimed at correcting identified deficiencies in various areas, including measures against corruption. As a result of the annual reports of the European Commission on Bulgaria’s progress on the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism, anti-corruption law-making has begun to develop and improve. Serious progress in this direction is the creation of legislation in the area of “conflict of interest”, which is not exactly corruption but creates prerequisites for its development, especially in the public sphere. The paper presents the result of the analysis of the created anti-corruption legislation after the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria to the EU. Particular attention is paid to the law adopted in 2018 regulating anti-corruption measures, as well as the terms and procedure for the seizure of illegally acquired property for the benefit of the state.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
The Corruption Research Center Budapest was created in November 2013 in response to the growing need for independent research on corruption and quality of government in Hungary. The central aim of the Center is to systematically explore the causes, characteristics, and consequences of low quality of government, corruption, and regulatory failure using an inter-disciplinary approach. In addition, the Center also aims to help citizens to hold governments accountable through the use of robust evidence. Our unique research approach combines qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse micro-level actor behaviour and generates novel hard data on the phenomena under scrutiny. Corruption Research Center Budapest: http://www.crcb.eu/ ABSTRACT Corruption manual for beginners: "Corruption techniques" in public procurement with examples from Hungary 4 This paper develops 30 novel quantitative indicators of grand corruption that operationalize 20 distinct techniques of corruption in the context of public procurement. Each indicator rests on a thorough qualitative understanding of rent extraction from public contracts by corrupt networks as evidenced by academic literature, interviews and media content analysis. Feasibility and usefulness of the proposed indicators are demonstrated using micro-level public procurement data from Hungary in 2009-2012. While the prime value of this broad set of indicators is the possibility of combining them into a robust composite indicator of highlevel corruption, the high degree of detail also reveals that many regulatory interventions have succeeded in changing the form of corruption, but not its overall incidence. JEL classification: D72, D73, H57,
Journal of Business Ethics, 2007
This article discusses the alleged anti-corruption effects of procurement reforms by presenting the European Act on Public Procurement and the increasing number of appeals filed by suppliers due to perceived misevaluations of tenders and perceived impairments of transparency. The delays and costs that arise from this right to appeal are studied in the Swedish context with the aim of contributing to the debate on corruption in two ways. First, instead of using the modern definition of corruption, the ancient definition is introduced to explain anticorruption efforts, focusing on corruption as deviations from a pristine standard as opposed to corruption as the abuse of public power for private gain. Second, it will be argued that the fight against corruption in the practical implementation of the European Act on Public Procurement jeopardizes efficiency and might devaluate competence. However, striving for the total elimination of corruption-an evil that has to be fought disregarding the consequences-is integral in the war against it.
The problem of corruption in the contracting out of public services - the case of Slovakia
Acta Universitatis Bohemiae Meridionalis, 2021
Corruption finds room for its proliferation precisely where there is extensive, opaque and little controllable regulation by the state. In this context, it is the role of the rule of law to apply the principles of legal (enforceability) accountability in the context of corrupt behaviour and the drawing of consequences. The level of rule of law in this area affects the risk of corruption in public service procurement processes. The main goal of the study is to demonstrate the problem of corruption as the threat of the rule of law by the results of qualitative analysis of the legal framework defining corruption and of the methods of public procurement used by us in the contracting out of local public services in Slovak republic. The study answers research question on impact of legal accountability with implications for the risk of corruption on the methods of public procurement of public services. Data qualitative analysis is descriptive in nature. The real enforceability of legal responsibility for corrupt acts against public officials is very low in Slovakia. The quality of this legal framework has real impact on risk of corruption in public procurement processes, which can be identified by often using the direct purchase as the method of public procurement. Public organizations do not always proceed in accordance with applicable legislation, at least in accordance with its ethics and essential principles of public procurement. This problem reflects the proposed system's changes in public procurement in contracting out public services, which should eliminate the risk of corruption at the level of formal and informal rules.
Corruption and public procurement: example from Croatia
Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 2010
Her research interests are institutions and applied institutional analysis, and her most recent publications are in the economics of corruption. Dr Budak has participated in research projects on various aspects of Croatia's accession to the EU, such as institutional convergence, public sector policies and regional development issues.