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France

Transparency of Public Procurement (FR0031)

Overview

At-a-Glance

Action Plan: France Action Plan 2018-2020

Action Plan Cycle: 2018

Status: Active

Institutions

Lead Institution: Ministry of Economy and Finance, Secretary of State responsible for Digital Technology

Support Institution(s): Regional Council and General Secretary for Regional Affairs (SGAR) of Brittany, City of Rennes, Burgundy-Franche-Comté Region

Policy Areas

E-Government, OGP, Open Contracting and Procurement, Open Data, Private Sector, Records Management

IRM Review

IRM Report: Pending IRM Review

Starred: Pending IRM Review

Early Results: Pending IRM Review

Design i

Verifiable: Pending IRM Review

Relevant to OGP Values: Not Relevant

Potential Impact: Pending IRM Review

Implementation i

Completion: Pending IRM Review

Description

Lead institution(s):
Ministry of Economy and Finance, Secretary of State responsible for Digital Technology
Other stakeholders:
Regional Council and General Secretary for Regional Affairs (SGAR) of Brittany, City of Rennes, Burgundy-Franche-Comté Region
Commitment extending Commitment 2 of the 2015-2017 NAP “Increasing transparency in public procurement”
OGP principles with which the commitment is associated:
Combating corruption, transparency
Challenges
At national level, public procurement is estimated at 15% of the GDP. It is an essential component of economic policies that helps sustain growth, fosters competitiveness and employment, and stimulates innovation. There is room for greater transparency in this expenditure category: it is an issue for citizens, with regard to accountability in public expenditure and countering corruption, as well as an economic issue, facilitating companies’ fair access to public procurement and enabling greater transparency in economic life, and an issue as regards effectiveness of public action, enabling efficient management of the policy on the part of all public officials.
Aims
Open publication of essential data on public procurement, in compliance with an international standard (Open Contracting Data Standard) and including all stakeholders2.
Transposition of European directives has provided France with a judicial framework fostering increased transparency in public procurement. Publication of essential data on public procurement (in particular on offers, candidacies and choices made) is now mandatory; in accordance with the procurement contract data repository and in compliance with the international “open contracting data standard”.
Publication of data in compliance with a single standard guarantees its availability in a usable format, as well as facilitating data interoperability and reuse. Such standardisation should finally cover all public purchasers (State, local authorities, hospitals, public institutions, etc.) and enable development of a “single flow of public procurement data”. The Brittany Region is already very much committed to this aim and provides a useful testing ground for implementation of this Commitment.
Transparency in public procurement is also an issue as regards the fight against corruption and effectiveness of public action at international level. During the Open Government Partnership World Summit held in Paris in 2016, France undertook to promote transparency in public procurement at international level. It set up the “Contracting 5” (“C5”) alliance with four other countries (Colombia, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Ukraine), with the Open Contracting Partnership’s support. C5 aims to share tools and best practices on the subject and develop the international “open contracting data standard”. France will be chairing C5 as from January 2018.
Complete transparency in public procurement cannot be achieved, however, without an ambitious training and simplification plan.3 This being so, development of a policy ensuring support to and training of those involved in digital transformation of public procurement is in the pipeline.4 Similarly, simplification of procedures, of publication of national opinions in particular, and of processes, through their standardisation and interoperability, etc., is a major work focus.
The road map in detail

Designing a “single flow” of procurement contract data March 2017 to September 2018
• Making the “contract flow” available on data.gouv.fr April 2018
• • Working on the scope of data incorporated into the “contract flow” in order to go beyond the “essential data” provided for by the Decree.
• • Such data may be identified in cooperation with the players concerned, through organisation of Open Labs with developers, public purchasers, software publishers, etc. An initial Open Lab was held on 25 September 2017. 2nd open lab S1 2018
On going work until end 2019
• Developing and implementing innovative uses of public procurement data at public procurement observatories in the 2 “testing grounds”: Brittany and Occitania End 2018
• Disseminating these practices across other territories: involvement of other territories in experiments underway and publication of their data in the same format From January 2018
• Disseminatingstandardsamongtheinternationalcommunityvia Contracting 5 From January 2018
• Incorporating more countries into Contracting 5 and promoting use of international standards in those countries Early 2018
• Developing a policy ensuring support for and training of those involved in digital transformation of public procurement 2020

France's Commitments

  1. Transparency of Public Services

    FR0030, 2018, E-Government

  2. Transparency of Public Procurement

    FR0031, 2018, E-Government

  3. Transparency of Development Aid

    FR0032, 2018, Aid

  4. Expand open data

    FR0033, 2018, E-Government

  5. Improved data policies and administration

    FR0034, 2018, Capacity Building

  6. Transparency of Public Algorithms

    FR0035, 2018, E-Government

  7. Open data at sub-national level

    FR0036, 2018, Capacity Building

  8. State AI lab

    FR0037, 2018, Capacity Building

  9. Administrative capacity-building

    FR0038, 2018, Capacity Building

  10. Public Service Incubators

    FR0039, 2018, Capacity Building

  11. Streamline data flows

    FR0040, 2018, E-Government

  12. Open Etat forum

    FR0041, 2018, E-Government

  13. Online procedures dashboard

    FR0042, 2018, E-Government

  14. GovTech summit

    FR0043, 2018, Capacity Building

  15. Imrove public consultation mechanisms

    FR0044, 2018, E-Government

  16. International transparency and citizen participation

    FR0045, 2018, Aid

  17. Public pariticipation in sustainable development

    FR0046, 2018, Capacity Building

  18. Open Science

    FR0047, 2018, E-Government

  19. Citizen involvement in Cour des Comptes

    FR0048, 2018, Capacity Building

  20. Private sector transparency

    FR0049, 2018, Asset Disclosure

  21. Access to information on public officials

    FR0050, 2018, Asset Disclosure

  22. Open Regional and Local Authorities' Data

    FR0001, 2015, Fiscal Transparency

  23. Publish municipal council decisions and reports online

    FR0002, 2015, E-Government

  24. Publish building permits in open data format

    FR0003, 2015, Open Data

  25. Starred commitment Increase Transparency in Public Procurement

    FR0004, 2015, Open Contracting and Procurement

  26. Improve Transparency in International Development Aid

    FR0005, 2015, Aid

  27. Open Access to Public Policy Evaluations

    FR0006, 2015, E-Government

  28. Involve Citizens in Cour des Comptes Work

    FR0007, 2015, Fiscal Transparency

  29. Access to Public Officials Transparency Obligations

    FR0008, 2015, E-Government

  30. Starred commitment Beneficial Ownership

    FR0009, 2015, Beneficial Ownership

  31. Transparency in Extractive Industries

    FR0010, 2015, Extractive Industries

  32. Transparency in International Trade Commercial Negotiations

    FR0011, 2015, Labor

  33. Fix My Neighborhood

    FR0012, 2015, E-Government

  34. Digital Fix-it

    FR0013, 2015, Open Data

  35. Co-produce Data Infrastructure with Civil Society

    FR0014, 2015, Open Data

  36. Starred commitment Open Legal Resources

    FR0015, 2015, Legislation & Regulation

  37. Reform Participatory Mechanisms

    FR0016, 2015, Public Participation

  38. Mediation and Justice

    FR0017, 2015, Judiciary

  39. Starred commitment Open and Circulate Data

    FR0018, 2015, Land & Spatial Planning

  40. Open Calculation Models and Simulators

    FR0019, 2015, Open Data

  41. Open Platform for Government Resources

    FR0020, 2015, E-Government

  42. Improve Public Services through E-Government and User Interaction

    FR0021, 2015, E-Government

  43. Empower Civil Society to Support Schools

    FR0022, 2015, E-Government

  44. Diversify Recruitment within Public Institutions

    FR0023, 2015, Capacity Building

  45. Culture Change

    FR0024, 2015, Capacity Building

  46. Spread Public Innovation

    FR0025, 2015, Capacity Building

  47. Starred commitment Protect Against Conflicts of Interest

    FR0026, 2015, Conflicts of Interest

  48. Civil Society & Transparency in COP21 Conference Planning

    FR0027, 2015, Environment and Climate

  49. Open data and Climate/Sustainable Development

    FR0028, 2015, Open Data

  50. Collaborate with Civil Society on Climate and Sustainable Development

    FR0029, 2015, Environment and Climate