Corruption in public procurement harms the public interest, undermines public trust and has a negative impact on people’s lives. Integrity Pacts are an innovative tool that involves civil society monitoring of selected public procurement projects, to safeguard EU funds from the risks of fraud and corruption and to increase transparency and accountability.
Following the success of the Integrity Pacts Pilot Project (2015-2022), 15 Member States have committed to implement and/or encourage Integrity Pacts in their projects. The Commission wants to support them by launching this call to Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to set up an “Integrity Pact Helpdesk”. Individual CSOs or consortia led by a CSO are invited to submit their proposal before 02/04/2024, at 18:00.
Call for proposals: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/whats-new/tenders-and-grants/calls-for-proposal_en
DG REGIO is organising 3 sessions of the training module on Integrity Pacts in 2024. The training aims to support the EU Member States in implementing Integrity Pacts (IP) in public procurement projects financed by EU cohesion funds. This advanced module provides hands-on training on setting up and implementation process. The training is designed for participants from ESI Funds managing authorities/ intermediate bodies/ audit authorities in the EU Member States and is provided free of charge. Authorities in each Member State are invited to nominate technical level experts to participate in the training. Please note the training is provided in English.
Registration: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/TrainingIPApril2024-Registration
Tackling effectively corrupt and fraudulent activities is a challenging task and requires a complex approach. Civil society can give a valuable input in promoting transparency, accountability and preventing corruption and can act as an effective anti-corruption actor.
An Integrity Pact has two components and involves three parties:
An Integrity Pact has multiple objectives:
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.
This practical toolbox aims to provide inspiration for Member State administrations seeking to develop Integrity Pact to monitor project financed from ESIF Funds and using public procurement. It aims to facilitate Integrity Pacts implementation and to encourage good practices. It builds on experiences from the Pilot Project on Integrity Pacts 2016-2021. In this pilot, 11 Member States organised the monitoring of 18 projects, with the monitoring of 15 civil society organisation, under the coordination of Transparency International.
Stemming from this Pilot Project, several tools aim to support future implementation of Integrity Pacts in the EU:
A practical guidebook detailing the three steps in the Integrity Pacts journey (advocating for IPs, setting up strong IPs, civic monitoring), based on extensive experience gathered through pilot projects.
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A hands-on guide to help EU authorities embed Integrity Pacts in their programmes in order to safeguard strategic investments under the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 and recovery funds.
Collection of project cases highlighting key improvements to procurement projects achieved as a result of the pilot project, including lessons learned and key facts and figures for each of the 18 IPs.
A training module on Integrity Pacts as part of the series of training events organised by DG REGIO to support national and regional authorities responsible for the management of Cohesion Policy programmes. The training is designed for participants from programme authorities for Cohesion policy programmes and is provided free of charge.
Training for Managing Authorities and for Monitoring organisations
A Helpdesk” aiming to provide support to the Member States that have committed to implement and/or encourage Integrity Pacts in their projects. The helpdesk will bring together the experience of different IP projects in the form of: knowledge repository, frequently asked questions, guidance, templates, community building and exchange of good practices, training, expert support, promotion and communication, etc.
A dedicated space to exchange about good practices and expertise gained in implementing the Integrity Pacts, as part of the communities of practitioners provided by DG REGIO for administrators from different EU countries who are involved in managing EU funding under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Fund.
Communities of practice for Managing Authorities
A user-friendly and dynamic application drawing attention to potential fraud risks in a procurement process, based on contract notices and contract award notices published on the EU's Tenders Electronic Database.
A board game that helps civil society groups, journalists, activists, and others learn about public procurement and identify corruption risks that may arise.
Tender Defender – Cards on the Table!
17 projects selected to pilot the Integrity Pacts
Exploring innovative ways of improving efficiency in projects funded by EU funds, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy and Transparency International have joined forces since 2015 to promote the use of Integrity Pacts (IP) as a tool to increase transparency and accountability, enhance citizens’ engagement and trust in public institutions, bring cost savings and improve competition and promote awareness and better understanding of public procurement.
The project ‘Integrity Pacts – Civil Control Mechanism for Safeguarding EU Funds’ covered 18 projects co-funded with cohesion policy funding in 11 Member States. The results will be widely disseminated in all Member States and we are already reflecting on how this experience can be scaled up in the context of the future long-term EU budget 2021-2027.
The initiative has been widely recognised as a success in bringing EU policies and administrations closer to citizens. It received the European Ombudsman’s Award for Good Administration 2019 in the category “Excellence in open administration.” The project was also included in the special G20 Compendium as a global good practice for promoting integrity and transparency in infrastructure development. It was also recognised as a best practice by the prestigious Stanford Social Innovation Review.
The central activities of the project were:
The Transparency International Secretariat ensured the overall coordination of the project and coordinated the CSOs performing the role of IP monitor, quality assurance of project implementation at all levels, promotion and dissemination of the project results, necessary training and capacity building, capturing and dissemination of impact, lessons learned and best practices.
To learn more about the Integrity Pacts Pilot Project and about individual projects under the Integrity Pacts Pilot Project:
The Final Conference on Integrity Pacts presented the lessons learned from the Integrity Pacts Pilot Project, and discussed the future of clean contracting and investment in Europe. The Programme included:
Recording of both days of the Conference
