The Platform of Civil Society Organizations in the Fight against Corruption demands the immediate halt of the initiative to amend and supplement the Law on Public Procurement, submitted to the Parliament in a summary procedure on December 5, 2024, by a group of MPs.
The proposed legislative amendments that abolish the administrative control of public procurement carried out by the Public Procurement Bureau represent a serious setback in the protection against corruption in conditions when, according to the assessments of all relevant international and domestic stakeholders, corruption in public procurement is widespread. Instead of, according to the recommendations, strengthening administrative control and expanding the scope of tenders that will be controlled on the basis of the existing “red flags” for corruption risks, this control is abolished without any argument. The introduction of the so-called administrative review resembles the old mechanism that was already applied and was the subject of much controversy and criticism from all relevant institutions.
Additionally, although the proposal was already withdrawn once, it once again envisages the termination of the mandates of the president and members of the State Commission for Public Procurement Appeals, without the conditions for dismissal being met and without any public consultations. Such an intrusion into the work of institutions that, by their model, should be independent of the central government, constitutes a dangerous precedent and leads to additional partisanship of the institutions.
The fact that these and a series of other amendments to the Law are proposed is particularly worrying, i.e. with the historically highest budget, new borrowings, and daily indications of misuse of public funds, making such amendments represents a step back in building a system that can prevent and effectively sanction corruption.
At the same time, in the event of any intention to amend the legal regulations in the field of public procurement, we insist on organizing a consultative process in which all competent institutions, such as the Public Procurement Bureau, the State Commission for Public Procurement Appeals, the Ministry of Finance, the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption, and civil society organizations working on anti-corruption issues, will participate.
We reiterate that the practice of adopting legislative amendments in a summary procedure, without a consultative process, especially for solutions that may negatively impact the fight against corruption, is unacceptable and contrary to European commitments to democratic, inclusive, and expert public policy-making.
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