The Austrian Federal Competition Authority (AFCA) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) organised a joint workshop on “Fighting bid rigging in public procurement: boosting compliance and competition in tendering”. The workshop was funded by the European Commission and took place from 21 to 22 October 2024.
Natalie Harsdorf, Director General of the AFCA, opened the event on Monday morning, outlining the topics of the two-day workshop. Representatives of the OECD then presented their perspective, including recommendations and their Guidelines for Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement. They were followed by delegates from the European Commission who spoke about combating collusive tendering. To ensure the topic was not only looked at theoretically but also from a practical viewpoint, the workshop dealt with both the OECD Checklist for detecting bid rigging in public procurement and a hypothetical case study.
The event focused on bid rigging, warning signs for collusion, reporting mechanisms for competition authorities and other related issues. Renowned national and international speakers from the OECD and the European Commission held an interactive session, during which they looked at bid rigging in detail and discussed various aspects of the fight against it.
The following issues were also covered by the workshop:
- Bid rigging and forms of bid rigging
- Clues about bid rigging (warning signs or red flags)
- Reporting mechanisms to competition watchdogs at national and EU level
- Possible damages for the client in case of bid rigging
- Measures to prevent bid rigging and promote competition (including design of the tender process).
“Fighting bid rigging in tender processes is at the heart of the AFCA’s work, with our unearthing of the construction and waste management cartels being a case in point. It is vitally important that we raise awareness of these particularly damaging infringements and take preventive steps early on,“ explained Director General Natalie Harsdorf.