Stock-taking of administrative capacity, systems and practices across the EU to ensure the compliance and quality of public procurement involving European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds

A study offers a unique and unprecedented overview of the current state of administrative capacity in the field of public procurement in the EU with a special focus on the implementation of the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds. It looks at the systems and structures in the individual Member States and provides valuable information as to how to improve the quality of public procurement and ensure more efficiency, transparency and regularity, in line with the Investment Plan for Europe and the EU budget focused on results initiative.

This study provides a systematic assessment of the public procurement systems of each of the Member States with a particular focus on the way how they are organised and function. Based on desk research for 28 Member States, field interviews in 15 Member States, case studies in the Czech Republic and Portugal and an online survey of practitioners in 28 Member States, the study assesses each system’s strengths and weaknesses and provides country specific recommendations in 28 country profiles. It also identifies a list of good practices and lessons learnt from the past that could be used by decision-makers to improve administrative capacity, especially in terms of human resources, systems and tools, and governance structures.

The study is one of the building blocks of the Action Plan on public procurement - part of the broader initiative launched by Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu to help Member States and regions improve the way they invest and manage Cohesion Policy funds, alongside the development of Peer 2 Peer, a platform for public officials from Member States to exchange expertise and best practice in administrative capacity-building, the guide on the most common errors in public procurement, and Integrity Pacts, a tool to improve transparency and accountability in public procurement.