European Commission Says Corruption Is Rife in Public Procurement Contracts

Bid rigging and other corrupt practices are rife in the awarding of public procurement contracts in the European Union and therefore approximately 25 percent of the value of all tendered government contracts are lost due to illegal bidding processes, according to the European Commission.

Coming at a time when the commission is pushing hard for countries such as the U.S. to open up their public procurement processes via free trade agreements such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the commission’s first report on corruption also says that one-third of all European companies that bid on public tenders in the ...