Policy Paper Launch on Integrity Pacts
Transparency International Romania hosted a debate on Monday, December 19, dedicated to Integrity Pacts – a concept developed by Transparency International and becoming an international best practice example in engaging civil society to promote public interest in public procurement.
The debate started from a public policy proposal elaborated by Transparency International Romania, aimed at enhancing integrity in public procurement in Romania.
Participants discussed this document together to find the best solutions for promoting and implementing Integrity Pacts in as many representative institutions at the national level as possible, as well as to ensure overall quality and integrity in strategic public procurements.
The event is part of the project "Strengthening Integrity in Public Procurement: Enhanced Approach and the Integrity Pact Coalition", carried out by Transparency International – Secretariat in partnership with chapters from Argentina, Romania, and Spain. The general objective of the project is to establish Integrity Pacts as a standard in anti-corruption actions in public procurement and to expand global and national coalitions to promote the use of Integrity Pacts in key investments and regulations.
Integrity Pacts implemented in Romania between 2016 and 2021 represent a valuable instrument for increasing trust in public procurement to facilitate decision-making and implement necessary reforms.
Increasing trust in procurement procedures is one of the objectives of Transparency International Romania, as it is a crucial step in breaking the vicious cycle where lack of capacity and integrity undermines trust, and lack of trust fosters an environment conducive to irregularities and corruption to thrive.
Moreover, Integrity Pacts are a mechanism for Collective Action and support the capacity development, based on mutual learning, of all stakeholders involved: contracting authorities, companies representing potential bidders and contractors, as well as civil society. Collective action initiatives can support contracting authorities in better understanding markets and formulating realistic and non-discriminatory requests. They can also support the avoidance of unintended irregularities, which increase the perception of corruption and decrease trust due to misunderstandings and different communication styles. Furthermore, Collective Action can enable early detection of integrity issues with financial consequences (for the public budget and the private sector), including early detection of corruption, if applicable.
