Competition want access to Portal Base to detect collusion evidence – publico

 
         

                 
                 

 
 

The Competition Authority (AdC) wants access to more specific data on public procurement that are being loaded into the Base portal – which aggregates all information on the contracts concluded under the Code Public contracts and which had not yet access – to be able to detect collusion evidence. In a Tuesday public hearing in Parliament, the President of the Competition Authority, antoni Ferreira Gomes, said to have chosen the fight against collusion in public procurement as one of the strategic areas of action in the year 2016.

“in a case like the Portuguese in the procurement weighs 20% of public expenditure and has a 10% impact on GDP, any manipulation or conluiou implies a substantial loss to the state” he argued.

in 2015, the Competition Authority has established a Strategic Plan of Action for public procurement which includes the fight against collusion and promoting efficiency in public procurement. Access to more data appearing in the base portal, including access to historical data of companies and contracts. “We are still waiting for the National Commission for Data Protection has ruled on the matter, so we could not move forward in 2015,” explained the chairman of the regulator.

At a time that is an ongoing public Contracts Code review, Antonio Ferreira Gomes cited data collected in 2013 and showing that 80% of public procurement was done through direct agreement, and, on average, and for each of these adjustments were consulted only two companies. “There are, in fact, a low participation of companies,” says António Ferreira Gomes. When there is open competition procedures, for example procurement or auctions, there is a greater participation of companies (an average of seven), but also in these cases “participation has been declining.”

The Competition Authority published a guide to good practice to deliver the contracting authorities in order to draw attention to many of these problems.

Still on the presentation of the activities for the year 2015, the President of the Competition Authority stated that during this year regulator received 418 complaints, opened 27 cases and took 14 decisions. Six decisions were condemnatory, three were approved but subject to commitment and there are still five filings. In the control of concentrations, the Competition Authority noted a substantial increase in these movements, having received 60 notifications of contracting operations. – Which draws an increase of 40% compared to 2014

About the research that is be made to the bank, focusing on commercially sensitive information exchange, which was raised a note of unlawfulness contra15 banks, António Ferreira Gomes invoked the secrecy of justice which governs the process until the final decision. And he clarified that the process is even suspended for consideration of interlocutory appeals before the Court of Competition, regulation and supervision and Lisbon Relationship court. The president of the Competition Authority says the process is complex to the number of institutions involved, but believe that these resources require a waiting period should not come into terms that create prescription.