EU countries need better data on public spending to increase trust, tackle climate change and reduce corruption

Open and Sustainable Procurement in Europe conference gathers experts in Tirana, Albania from 15-16 June

15 June 2023 — Nearly one in three euros spent by Europe’s governments is on public contracts, to a total of 14% of GDP. The scale of governments’ collective procurement spending makes it one of the most powerful levers to address the climate crisis. 

But most EU countries are using direct awards and single-bid contracts more often than is recommended by policy experts. This increases the risk of corruption and unfair practices in public spending worth €2 trillion euros. 

Today, Open Contracting Partnership is bringing together more than 100 leaders from more than 20 countries across Europe to discuss how to ensure it’s transparent, fair & sustainable. 

At the conference organized by Open Contracting Partnership in collaboration with Albania’s Public Procurement Commission, the government of the Netherlands, the Anticorruption Commission in Italy, and the European Bank for Reconstruction, participants will develop a vision for open and sustainable public procurement. 

Key topics include a stock-take on green procurement and implementing sustainability in public contracting, how to leverage the implementation of e-Forms by October 2023 for maximum impact, strategies to increase vendor inclusion, and the latest in digital technologies from artificial intelligence to digital feedback platforms. 

Karolis Granickas, Head of Europe at Open Contracting Partnership says: 

“Public procurement is a powerful lever to achieve economic, social and environmental impact in Europe. Yet, a large part of public procurement data across the EU remains patchy and inaccessible. We need a joint vision and better, open data and participation from planning to delivery to achieve these goals and strengthen democratic governance for European citizens.”

One of the most powerful moves the European Commission can make to address this problem is to harmonize the publication of procurement data across the EU by including public procurement in the list of High-Value Datasets under the Open Data Directive. 

Notes

• OECD’s most recent Government at a Glance report finds that in 2021, public procurement made up a total of €2 trillion, or 14.9% of the EU’s GDP.
• The EU’s single market dashboard provides an overview of key indicators. Out of 30 countries, 27 are classified as yellow or red for the indicator measuring the proportion of contracts awarded where there was just a single bidder. This indicator is widely considered as increasing the risk of corruption.

About Open Contracting Partnership

Open Contracting Partnership is a silo-busting collaboration across governments, businesses, civil society, and technologists to open up and transform government contracting worldwide. We bring open data and open government together to make public contracting fair and effective. Spun out of the World Bank in 2015, we are now an independent not-for-profit working in over 50 countries.