Court of Audit: Substantial deficiencies in the award of public contracts

A new audit report by the Court of Audit documents “substantial deficiencies” in the pre‑contractual review of procedures for awarding public works, supplies, services and concession contracts between 1 July 2023 and 31 December 2024.

On 13 June 2025, the Court of Audit, Greece’s supreme fiscal court, constitutionally established under Article 98, published an audit identifying “substantial deficiencies” in the pre‑contractual review of public procurement procedures for works, supplies, services and concession contracts during the period 1 July 2023 to 31 December 2024.

According to the Court’s findings:

Unlawful exclusion of mixed contracts from the application of Laws 4412/2016 and 4413/2016, which transpose EU public procurement rules.
Failure to publish essential amendments to tender documents, especially regarding selection criteria and technical specifications.
Lack of necessary funding or sufficient budget appropriations for contract execution.

Insufficient documentation of necessity and budget, preventing verification of the reasonableness of public expenditure and transparency in resource allocation.
Unjustified deviation from competitive tendering, without urgent and unforeseeable circumstances.
Unlawful substantial contract modifications, without meeting the cumulative conditions for exceptions to tendering (unforeseen circumstances or supplementary works).
Unjustified exclusion of bidders due to unclear tender requirements and lack of clarity in supporting documents.
Selection criteria that restricted competition or introduced unjustified discrimination.
Unlawful exclusion of economic operators relying on third‑party capacities, despite proving access to required resources.
Insufficient reasoning in technical evaluations.

Conclusions

The Court of Audit found:

Persistent and repeated deficiencies across all stages of procurement — from preparation to award — mirroring patterns identified in previous audits.
Mixed‑object contracts involving transfer or redevelopment of property for public use must follow the rules of Law 4412/2016 or 4413/2016.
Significant deficiencies in publicity requirements, including failure to republish essential amendments or extend deadlines after late clarifications.
Insufficient justification of necessity and budget, and cases of inadequate funding.
Frequent deviations from competitive procedures, both during award and execution (via substantial modifications).
Improper use of exceptional procedures for needs that could have been planned through regular tendering.
Contract modifications used to expand scope, instead of launching new tenders.
Unlawful discriminatory criteria, such as requiring experience only in the public sector, multiple types of experience, or excessively high liquidity ratios.
Restrictions on reliance on third‑party capacities, contrary to EU principles of competition and proportionality.
Improper use of quality criteria as award criteria without correlation to the quality of the offered services.
Insufficient reasoning in technical evaluations, even for single‑bidder procedures.
Cases of unlawful awards, including exceeding budget, violating lowest‑price criteria, using Dynamic Purchasing Systems after expiry, or accepting bidders who did not meet selection criteria.
Improper acceptance of multiple offers from the same bidder when alternative offers were not permitted.
Deficiencies in verifying supporting documents, where the Court’s intervention restored legality by awarding contracts to the rightful lowest bidder.

Where is the problem with the rule of law?

Under the rule of law, public authorities must design and apply a regulatory framework that ensures equal treatment, competition and legality in public procurement.

The Court of Audit’s report documents “substantial deficiencies” in the pre‑contractual review of public procurement procedures for works, supplies, services and concessions during 1 July 2023–31 December 2024, undermining the principles of equal treatment and competition.

Thodoris Chondrogiannos

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Court of Audit: Substantial deficiencies in the award of public contracts

A new audit report by the Court of Audit documents “substantial deficiencies” in the pre‑contractual review of procedures for awarding public works, supplies, services and concession contracts between 1 July 2023 and 31 December 2024.

Conclusions

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