Procurement Risk:
Low
Score:
79/100
Government Policy
Q57
100/100
Does the country have legislation covering defence and security procurement with clauses specific to corruption risks, and are any items exempt from these laws?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. Requirements regarding government procurement are stipulated in the law on government procurement (‘Wet inzake…
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Articles 9 and 10 of the law of 13 August 2011 on defence and security procurement explicitly forbid corruption, bribery, conflict of interest etc.…
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A review of parliamentary documents and media articles does not reveal evidence of issues with the implementation of the legislation of defence procurement [1,…
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Q58
100/100
Is the defence procurement cycle process, from assessment of needs, through contract implementation and sign-off, all the way to asset disposal, disclosed to the public?
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In terms of procurement, the Minister of Defense must follow a prescribed procedure as detailed in the law on public procurement. and the law…
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Laws and royal decrees are available to the public. These include the government procurement law, and the law on defence and security procurement legislation…
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The implementation process is detailed in the law on public procurement, the law on defence and security procurement and the royal decree on defence…
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Q59
100/100
Are defence procurement oversight mechanisms in place and are these oversight mechanisms active and transparent?
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At the beginning of each legislature, the House appoints from among its members, in accordance with Articles 157 and 158, thirteen effective members who…
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Within the framework of its control mission, the Parliamentary Special Committee for Military Procurement and Sales has the following prerogatives [1]: (1) A right…
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The Court of Auditors has full insight into all documents pertaining to the procurement process. The reports of the Court of Auditors are available…
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Forward planning is included in the Strategic Vision of the Minister of Defence [1]. This document is drawn up each legislature. It elaborates on…
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The Strategic Vision provides detailed information on capability procurement [1]. It includes detailed data on capability type, investment cost and envisaged timing. Moreover, the…
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Defence purchases are published on the e-Procurement portal of the federal government and published in the ‘Bulletin van Overheidsaanbestedingen’ (Bulleting of Public Procurement) [1,…
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Information is generally provided in a full text format [1, 2]. While holding extensive information, the e-Procurement portal is found wanting in its user-friendliness.…
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Capability Gap and Requirements Definition
Q62
NEI/100
What procedures and standards are companies required to have – such as compliance programmes and business conduct programmes – in order to be able to bid for work for the Ministry of Defence or armed forces?
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There are no specific laws and procedures detailing how the government discriminates in its selection of suppliers and sub-contractors on the basis of their…
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There is Not Enough Information to score this indicator. Any candidates or tenderers having been the object of a condemnation pronounced by a court…
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Q63
92/100
Are procurement requirements derived from a national defence and security strategy, and are procurement decisions well-audited? Are defence purchases based on clearly identified and quantified requirements?
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The Strategic Vision starts out with a detailed analysis of the Belgian security environment up to 2030, and Belgium’s position within this environment [1].…
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First, the Special Committee on Military Sales and Procurement has the right of control on procurement procedures of Belgian Defence [1, 2]. The Minister…
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The requirements are identified in the Strategic Vision, depending on the national security analysis and the detailed outlined policy and goals for Belgium [1].…
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Tender Solicitation, Assessment and Contract Award
Q64
75/100
Is defence procurement generally conducted as open competition or is there a significant element of single-sourcing (that is, without competition)?
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In principle, defence procurements are conducted in open competition, as required by the legislative framework on general public procurement, and defence and security public…
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Single-sourced contracts can be scrutinised by the Inspection of Finances, the Commission of Defence Purchases and Sales, and the Council of Ministers. These bodies…
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Q65
88/100
Are tender boards subject to regulations and codes of conduct and are their decisions subject to independent audit to ensure due process and fairness?
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Articles 9 and 10 of the law of 13 August 2011 explicitly forbid any conflict of interest [1]. Personnel of Belgian Defence have to…
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The adjudicators shall keep a record of the progress of all procurement procedures, whether or not they are conducted by electronic means [1]. To…
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Articles 22, 23 and 24 of the law of public procurement of defence and security stipulates the regulations of tender boards and, including on…
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The appropriateness of the tender specifications is verified internally within DGMR and the internal control office of the Budget Department (BFC) [1]. They are…
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Q66
92/100
Does the country have legislation in place to discourage and punish collusion between bidders for defence and security contracts?
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Book IV of the Code of Economic Law prohibits collusion between bidders in articles 5 and 6. Articles 245-247, which details consequences of bribery…
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The Law on Public Procurement states that, for procurement surpassing the treshold of EU publication, companies can be excluded from the procurement process in…
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There is Not Enough Information to score this indicator. No evidence of collusion cases between bidders for defence and security contracts was found. Additionally,…
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Training to identify collusion patterns and to report potential malpractice is part of the code of conduct training which all individuals working in procurement…
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Contract Delivery and In-Service Support
Q67
75/100
Are there mechanisms and procedures that ensure that contractors meet their obligations on reporting and delivery?
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There are formal procedures in place for reporting, monitoring, and assessing a supplier’s service and or delivery obligations. The royal decree of 14 January…
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First, according to the law of 17 June 2013, all candidates and bidders need to be informed of the motivated outcome of each tender…
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Formal contracts monitoring reports are not systematically produced, but evaluation of performance is systematically performed, and insufficient performance is considered as breach of contract,…
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There is Not Enough Information to score this indicator. No evidence of breaches of contract were found [1, 2]. Sanctions are stipulated in the…
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Q68
92/100
Are there mechanisms in place to allow companies to complain about perceived malpractice in procurement, and are companies protected from discrimination when they use these mechanisms?
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Complaints related to the contract award process may be filed (and are regularly filed) with the Conseil d’Etat (highest administrative court) [1]. Complaints related…
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Court proceedings in Belgium are relatively reasonably priced and are therefore regularly used in public procurement matters [1, 2, 3]. There are long waiting…
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This type of discrimintation is forbidden by the law on public procurement [1]. No evidence was found of contractors being discriminated after genuine complaints…
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Economic operators who have been convicted of corruption also have to be excluded from all defence and security procurement, as stated in Article 20…
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The Central Office for the Repression of Corruption is the entity that deals with corruption, concussion and interest taking and misappropriation [1]. OCRC has…
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There is Not Enough Information to score this indicator. No cases of corrupt activities of suppliers were found [1, 2]. There is no evidence…
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Offset Contracts
Q70
NEI/100
When negotiating offset contracts, does the government specifically address corruption risk by imposing anti-corruption due diligence on contractors and third parties?
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Offset contracts are illegal under European Union law [1]. They are only authorised when an exemption from EU las such are Article 346 TFEU…
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There is Not Enough Information to score this indicator [1, 2]. Belgium follows the EU regulations, but there are clear procedural guidelines. In practice,…
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While policies and procedures that outline the reporting and delivery obligations for offset contracts are drawn up by the Federal Public Service Economy, they…
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The government does not make any details about off-set contracts transparent [1]. However, civilians may request information based on the Law of Freedom of…
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Officials in the FPS Economy regularly produce a completion report with supplier performance appraisals, but these reports are not publicly available [1, 2].
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Action is always taken if a contract is not sufficiently completed. However, as this concerns the essential security interests of the country, these cases…
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What this assessment understands as “offset contracts” are, in Belgium, actually not separate contracts. When Belgium deems it necessary to take measures aiming at…
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Agents / Brokers
Q73
NEI/100
How strongly does the government control the company’s use of agents and intermediaries in the procurement cycle?
View QuestionFinancing Package
Q74
0/100
Are the principal aspects of the financing package surrounding major arms deals, (such as payment timelines, interest rates, commercial loans or export credit agreements) made publicly available prior to the signing of contracts?
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This information is made available to all control organs (Inspectorate of Finance, Parliament, Council of Ministers, Cour des Comptes), but is considered commercially sensitive…
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Seller Influence
Q75
NS/100
How common is it for defence acquisition decisions to be based on political influence by selling nations?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. It is very likely that major arms procurement programmes (major platforms such as aircraft,…
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. In terms of procurement, the Minister of Defense must follow a prescribed procedure as…
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. As mentioned earlier, Belgium is a small country in terms of defence, defence issues…
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