«Too many risks for the public»- Corriere.it

In the decree on the bridge over the Strait of Messina there is an «imbalance in the relationship between the public grantor and the private party», all to the advantage of the private sector and to the detriment of the public onto which «most of the risks end up being transferred». The president of Anac Giuseppe Busia rejected the provision, which has become a workhorse of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini. The number one of Anti-corruption, presenting the annual report on the activity of the Anac to Parliament, recalled that the authority had proposed some amendments to “strengthen the guarantees of the public side” which however were not accepted by the government.

Busia also launched a jab on the new Procurement Code which will enter into force on 1 July, warning against the excessive use of derogations and high thresholds as «less efficient shortcuts and harbingers of risks». Busia also underlines the dangers of cascading subcontracting, the de facto elimination of the entry of women and young people into Pnrr contracts and the non-introduction in the new code of the obligation to declare the beneficial owner of the company, as requested by the Authority.

The raising of the thresholds for direct assignments

«At a time when, thanks to the use of digital procurement platforms and the use of automated procedures, it is possible to obtain very significant simplifications and significant time savings, also increasing transparency and competition, it is surprising that shortcuts are used to speed up procedures certainly less efficient, and harbingers of risks. Among these, the raising of the thresholds for direct assignments, especially for services and supplies, or the elimination of notices and tenders for works up to five million euros», said Busia. According to the president of Anac, “the potential” inherent in the reform has been limited by raising the threshold beyond which qualification for public works assignment is mandatory to 500,000 euros, with the result of excluding almost 90% of the competitions completed.