românăCorruption in public procurement harms the public interest, undermines public trust and has a negative impact on people’s lives. However, tackling effectively corrupt and fraudulent activities is a challenging task and requires a complex approach. Civil society as effective anti-corruption actor can give a valuable input in promoting transparency, accountability and preventing corruption.
In order to look for new innovative ways of preventing corrupt practices in projects funded by EU funds, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy and Transparency International joined forces in this new initiative. In March 2015, Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu and Transparency International Deputy Managing Director Miklos Marschall launched the pilot project ‘Integrity Pacts – Civil Control Mechanism for Safeguarding EU Funds’.
It aims to explore and promote the use of Integrity Pacts (IP) for safeguarding EU funds against fraud and corruption, and as a tool to increase transparency and accountability, enhance trust in authorities and government contracting, contribute to a good reputation of contracting authorities, bring cost savings and improve competition through better procurement. The second phase of this joint project began on 1 January 2016 and will run for four years. Through this project the Commission will support piloting of IPs in projects co-financed by EU Structural and Cohesion Funds in EU Member States. The experience from piloting Integrity Pacts will be shared and disseminated at the EU level.
The initiative is part of the broader action undertaken by the Commission in tackling fraud and corruption, as well as enhancing administrative capacity in the use of EU funds and is a high priority for Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu.
What is an Integrity Pact?
An Integrity Pact is a contract between a contracting authority and economic operators bidding for public contracts that they will abstain from corrupt practices and will conduct a transparent procurement process. To ensure accountability and legitimacy, an Integrity Pact includes a separate contract with a civil society organisation which monitors that all parties comply with their commitments.
An Integrity Pact has multiple objectives:
- To increase transparency, accountability and good governance in public contracting,
- To enhance trust in public authorities and contribute to their better reputation,
- To improve competition, promote cost efficiency and savings through better procurement.
For more information from DG Region on this topic: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/policy/how/improving-investment/integrity-pacts/
