Conflict of interest when awarding contracts under projects co-financed from EU funds in the 2021–2027 financial perspective
Przemysław Krzykowski
Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie UWMhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3092-1105
Abstract
The main purpose of the article is an attempt to present the essence of the concept of “conflict of interest” when awarding contracts under projects
co-financed from EU funds under the provisions of EU law and national law in the 2021–2027 financial perspective. Taking into account the current expe-
rience in the division of EU funds in Poland, the author puts forward the
thesis that awarding contracts is one of the basic risk areas for the implementation of any project co-financed from EU funds. Violation of the provisions of
the Public Procurement Law Act of September 11, 2019, or the competition rules specified in the guidelines of the Minister of Funds and Regional Policy of November 18, 2022 regarding the eligibility of expenditure for 2021–2027, constitutes the most common category of “actions or omissions” of eligible beneficiaries in the judiciary as irregularities. Conflicts of interest may directly affect persons involved in the management of EU funds. It may also apply to beneficiaries implementing specific projects under which contracts are awarded. In such a case, it will take the form of various personal or capital connections between the ordering party and the contractor. The occurrence of such
connections always constitutes a significant violation of the law. The study analyzes both the provisions of the Act of September 11, 2019, Public Procurement Law, as well as the ministerial guidelines that apply to
beneficiaries who are not obliged to apply the provisions of the said Act. In addition to the dogmatic analysis of the applicable legal regulations, the article refers to the rich jurisprudence of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union in the examined area. The research
carried out led the author to formulate de lege ferenda conclusions. The author, taking into account the fact that for each case in which an undisclosed or insufficiently limited conflict of interest is found, the legislator provides a financial correction amounting to 100% of the value of a given contract, postulates the need to specify the legal regulations applicable to beneficiaries who do not apply the legal regime of the Public Procurement Law. The article points to a document published by the Silesian Centre for
Entrepreneurship entitled How to avoid a conflict of interest, understood as personal and capital links between the contracting authority and the selected
contractor, and the award of a contract without observing the principles of impartiality and objectivity, which may be good material for a discussion on amending the current legal regulations in the area under study. In the final conclusions, attention was also drawn to the need for changes in the scope of verification by authorised bodies of declarations of lack of conflict of interest
submitted by beneficiaries when awarding contracts under projects cofinanced from EU funds. The author takes the view that, in light of the current definition
of conflict of interest in Article 57(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial
rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, as well as the standards contained in Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement, the current procedures for verifying these declarations are insufficient.
Keywords:
administrative law, conflict of interest, public procurement, EU fundsReferences
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Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie UWM
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3092-1105
