Spain: CNMC promotes greater competition in State contract bids

Spanish regulator CNMC has approached Spain’s main Ministries and official hiring centers, hoping to kick-start a series of reforms that would allow the State to avoid the highly inflated costs caused by a lack of competition in State bidding for contracts. The toll of fraudulent bids on public tenders may reach an annual total of between 40 and 50 billion euros.

The CNMC’s report demands on those government officials responsible for overseeing government contracts to make a double effort, aimed in part to improving the design of bidding processes and, on the other hand, to persecuting and identifying anticompetitive agreements struck by potential providers.

The CNMC will publish a new manual, including a series of preemptive recommendations meant to improve the most elemental aspects of public tender design. The first rule proposed by the regulator would involve all State organisms engaging in public contracts to identify their relevant market, any previous cases of collusion, and whether there are alternative goods or services to those considered in the contract.

Full Content: El Confidencial

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