The first integrity pact (IP) in the Czech Republic was implemented from 2016 to 2019 as part of the EU-wide pilot programme to pilot IPs to safeguard EU funds. In 2016, Transparency International Czech Republic signed an integrity pact with the Ministry of Regional Development to monitor the procurement of technical supervision services for the operation of an online system called MS2014+, designed to manage and monitor EU subsidies in the programming period 2014-2020.

The IP took the form of a tripartite agreement between the contracting authority (CA), the independent monitor, and the successful bidder, who was obliged to sign it as part of the tender documentation. The IP included integrity commitments from all three parties and disclosure obligations for both contracting authority and bidders concerning employees and external consultants involved in the contracts. The successful bidder was also obliged to appoint a specific person within the company to monitor compliance with the IP.

The monitor was granted the right to access all information, communications and meetings related to the procedure and was obliged to prepare and publish monitoring reports and organise a minimum number of press conferences to inform the public about the IP. In addition, it was subject to a penalty in case of disclosure of confidential information. The IP obliged the parties to start internal procedures in case of suspected irregularities immediately, and if these were not clarified, it would lead to the termination of the IP. Conciliation was chosen as the preferred method for dispute resolution.

During the procurement process, TI Czech Republic issued 18 recommendations, mostly of technical nature, relating to the specific requirements for bidders and elements of contracts. A large majority of them were addressed appropriately by the contracting authority and the contractor. While no significant corruption risks or incidents were identified, all concerns about potential restrictions to competition or limited transparency were successfully addressed.

During the last year of monitoring, the Czech Office for Protection of Competition – the institution supervising public procurement – suddenly introduced a rather excessive fee for all those who wanted to issue a motion to review a contracting procedure. TI Czech Republic saw this as a deterrent to reporting potential wrongdoing in procurement and initiated a strategic litigation procedure. They won, and fees were declared unconstitutional and abolished.

Since the conclusion of the Integrity Pacts EU pilot project, TI Czech Republic has been serving as a monitor in two further integrity pacts (IPs):

• construction of new pavilions and a new energy centre for the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Prague
• renovation and supply of new technical equipment for the Pavilion of the Institutes of Physiology and Microbiology at the Czech Academy of Science

In these two cases, the monitor and the contracting authority signed the service agreements for the monitoring activities and separate integrity declarations that included bidders. The IP declarations include the same provisions as the IP for MS2014+ (see the previous section), and the contracting authority entirely covers the cost of the monitoring. This, however, includes only the technical monitoring of the procurement procedure and not communication and awareness-raising activities.