Greece

Issue: Lack of stability and coherence in the legal framework

• The legal framework is mostly aligned with EU directives, but frequent legislative changes and ex-post legalization of faulty procurement procedures undermine legal certainty and compliance.
• There is a lack of a coherent document retention policy compatible with the statute of limitations for investigating fraud and corruption.

Recommendations:

• Greek authorities should assess and eliminate the use of ex-post legalization mechanisms.
• Improve the stability of the legal framework by consolidating legal provisions and avoiding frequent ad-hoc changes.
• Align document retention policies with legal requirements for fraud and corruption investigations.

Issue: Weak implementation of Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP)

• While the legal framework allows for sustainability considerations, there is little evidence of their use in practice.
• The uptake of Green Public Procurement (GPP) is slow, and monitoring is not automated.

Recommendations:

• Conduct an assessment of why sustainability provisions are underutilized and provide additional guidance and training for contracting authorities.
• Establish an automated monitoring system for sustainable public procurement.

Issue: Inefficiencies in procurement governance and professionalization

• The normative and regulatory function is fragmented across multiple ministries, leading to inefficiencies.
• Procurement is not recognized as a dedicated career path within public administration, leading to a lack of professionalization.

Recommendations:

• Streamline responsibilities for public procurement governance to improve efficiency.
• Recognize procurement as a dedicated function in public administration, with defined career tracks and professional training.

Issue: Challenges in financial management and payment delays

• There are inefficiencies in budget planning and execution for procurement.
• Suppliers face long payment delays, sometimes requiring ex-post legalization of procurement procedures.

Recommendations:

• Implement a reporting mechanism for tracking budget execution and payment delays.
• Strengthen administrative controls to prevent payment delays and the need for ex-post legalizations.

Issue: Overreliance on the lowest-price criterion

• Contracting authorities heavily rely on the lowest-price criterion, which discourages suppliers and often leads to contract implementation delays.
• Limited use of strategic procurement practices such as life-cycle costing and best-price-quality ratio.

Recommendations:

• Promote the use of best-price-quality ratio and other value-for-money procurement approaches.
• Provide training and guidance on the strategic use of procurement methods.

Issue: Weak procurement planning and contract management

• There is limited market analysis and strategic procurement planning.
• Contract management is inefficient, with frequent modifications and payment delays.

Recommendations:

• Strengthen procurement planning through better market research and needs assessment.
• Improve contract management practices to ensure timely payments and minimize amendments.

Issue: Insufficient transparency and integrity measures

• Integrity-related rules lack clarity, and there is no central framework for accountability in procurement decision-making.
• Whistleblower mechanisms exist but are criticized for ineffectiveness.

Recommendations:

• Develop additional guidance on integrity measures, including conflict of interest management and procurement ethics.
• Strengthen whistleblower protection mechanisms and ensure effective follow-up on reports.

Issue: Limited access to public procurement information

• Some procurement data is not available in user-friendly formats, reducing public oversight.

Recommendations:

• Improve transparency by ensuring that all procurement notices and documents are published in an accessible format.
• Implement a fully interoperable e-procurement system to enhance data availability.