EU report cites public procurement fraud

Fraud and conflict of interest regarding public procurement are the big issues in the latest European Commission reports monitoring the progress of Romania and Bulgaria three-and-a-half years after their EU accession. The seventh such reports were published on the 20th  July.

Shortcomings in the implementation of public procurement procedures are widespread in Bulgaria. As for Romania, substantial improvements are required to protect against conflict of interest and corruption in public procurement, the reports say. In Bulgaria, large-scale schemes for siphoning public funds for the personal benefit of close relatives of politicians and civil servants were recently unveiled. This year's report is more critical of Romania than previous editions. It reprimands the country for having breached its EU accession commitments, after its constitutional court declared significant parts of legislation on the National Integrity Agency (ANI) unconstitutional. Asked by EurActiv to explain what sanctions Romania should expect to face should it fail to make the National Integrity Agency an effective tool for combating corruption, Mark Gray said that now was "not the time to talk about sanctions".

"The Romanian authorities are fully aware of the importance we attach to this issue," he added.

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