Procurement Risk:
High
Score:
44/100
Government Policy
Q57
25/100
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. Law 24/2011, of 1 August, regulates contracts in the public domain in the areas…
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Neither Law 24/2011 (the main legal framework) [1] nor the Royal Decrees 1011/2013 [2], 945/2001 [3], 1120/1977 [4], or Order DEF/2021/2011 [5] include a…
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A significant number of cases of corruption in defence purchases have been reported by the media in the last decade. Whilst there is no…
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Q58
75/100
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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There are formal procedures for defence procurement. These include Ministerial Order 60/2015 [1], which, when updated, made it more flexible and streamlined the previous…
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Defence planning capabilities were adopted in Spain through Ministerial Order 37/2005, but the three planning cycles carried out between 2005 and 2016 were not…
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There are policies and procedures for each step of the implementation process of the procurement cycle. In particular, they are included in Instruction 67/2011,…
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Q59
50/100
Are defence procurement oversight mechanisms in place and are these oversight mechanisms active and transparent?
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The internal control of the economic and financial management of the state public sector is carried out in Spain through the General Intervention of…
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As stated by the secretary of state for defence, “’there is a lack of awareness [in the Ministry] about the need to manage in…
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The Independent Office for Contracting Regulation and Supervision was created by Law 9/2017 in late 2017, and only the 2018 report has been published…
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Defence purchases/contracts of the Ministry of Defence are publicised in accordance with Law 9/2017 through the Public Sector Contracting Platform [1]. However, Article 5.1…
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Defence purchases/contracts of the Ministry of Defence are publicised in accordance with Law 9/2017 through the Public Sector Contracting Platform [1]. The platform openly…
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Capability Gap and Requirements Definition
Q62
25/100
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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Article 12 of Law 24/2011 prohibits contracts with people who have been formally convicted of crimes of terrorism (or activities linked to terrorism), those…
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No cases have been found of an important defence company excluded, privileged, or discriminated in bidding as per the existence of anticorruption programmes or…
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Q63
33/100
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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Both the current National Directive for Defence [1] and the National Security Strategy in place [2] refer to threats and challenges, but they do…
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The vast majority of the economic volume of arms procurement in Spain is related to the Special Armament Programmes (PEAs). Only six PEAs (out…
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Whilst qualifying purchases as opportunistic in nature may be excessive, it is unclear to what extent Spain’s major purchases (the Special Armament Programmes) relate…
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Tender Solicitation, Assessment and Contract Award
Q64
25/100
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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“Public spending on weapons and weapons systems takes place in a non-competitive environment” [1]. The Annual Contracting Plan of the Ministry of Defence (PACDEF)…
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Oversight agencies have powers to question single/sole/restricted competition procedures selected or purchases, and occasionally do so, but not actively or on a continuous basis.…
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Q65
50/100
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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Order DEF/2021/2011 regulates centralised contracting and sets the composition and powers of the Contracting Boards of the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Staff, and…
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Section 3 of Chapter 2 of Law 24/2011 (Articles 31-37) regulates and details the process of adjudication of contracts [1], but there is no…
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Tender board regulations are fully transparent, as stated in Law 24/2011, of Contracts in the Public Sector in the Areas of Defence and Security…
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No “external” or independent verification (from the contracting body) in advance of contract award is mentioned in Law 24/2011, of contracts in the public…
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Q66
58/100
Does the country have legislation in place to discourage and punish collusion between bidders for defence and security contracts?
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The sanction of the distortion of competition in public tenders in Spain is not only limited to the administrative field of competition but may…
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Article 12 of Law 24/2011 prohibits contracts with people who have been formally convicted of different crimes or formally sanctioned as a consequence of…
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This indicator is marked as ‘Not Applicable’ as no concrete cases of collusion investigated or prosecuted were found.The Additional Provision 23 of Royal Legislative…
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When asked about the type of specific training that procurement officers receive to identify cases of collusion and to report potential malpractices, the answer…
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Contract Delivery and In-Service Support
Q67
50/100
Are there mechanisms and procedures that ensure that contractors meet their obligations on reporting and delivery?
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Ministerial Order 43/2019, approves the specifications of particular administrative clauses, and model-type that must govern the contracting of works, supplies, and services through the…
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Many contracts (and their potential modifications) are not publicly available, including contracts negotiated without publicity and others whose information is kept confidential. As statedpreviously,…
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As stated by the Ministry of Defence, “the Ministry of Defence does not carry out periodic reports on the monitoring and termination of contracts,…
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There is not enough information to score this indicator. Information regarding breaches of contracts is not publicly available. There is only anecdotical evidence of…
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Q68
83/100
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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Chapters IV and V of Law 9/2017, on Public Contracts, are dedicated to appeal mechanisms, validity and revision of decisions on contracts, and settlement…
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Complaint mechanisms available to companies are said to be efficient and reasonably priced [1] and have been used. There is a mechanism of appeal…
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A general perception exists that complaining companies may suffer from retaliation that may jeopardise their options for future procurement contracts. According to an interview…
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Article 12 of Law 24/2011 prohibits contracts with people who have been formally convicted of different crimes or formally sanctioned as a consequence of…
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There is not enough information to score this indicator. Legal expert Ricardo Agud Spillard states that “there is no awareness in the arms sector…
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The number of cases about corruption that are publicly known is small. However, their high relevance and the wider implications of the cases known…
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Offset Contracts
Q70
50/100
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 expressly prohibited in the legislation of the European Union, as the European Commission views them as restrictive measures that violate the…
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The only evidence of a mandatory imposition of anticorruption measures on contracts is Instruction 23/2020 of the Secretary of Defence, on the Ethical Code…
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The acquisitions process in the defence and security framework in Spain is regulated by Defence Instruction 72/2012 (standardising the procurement of armament and defence…
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Procurement contracts are available on the Public Sector Procurement Platform website [1], where general information of both tenders and adjudications are available. However, they…
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Section 9 of Instruction 67/2011 expressly deals with “Direction, follow-up and control of the programmes”. Section 9 regulates the production of follow-up reports every…
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There is not enough information to score this indicator. Industrial Cooperation Agreements establish economic penalties for non-compliance: “failure to comply with the commitment at…
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There is not enough information to score this indicator. A study by the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) [1] revealed…
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Agents / Brokers
Q73
0/100
How strongly does the government control the company’s use of agents and intermediaries in the procurement cycle?
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Defex was a public company (51% of shares were owned by the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI) while the remaining 49% was in…
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There are no known restrictions or specific public policies on the use of agents and intermediaries in the procurement cycle in the defence sector,…
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Financing Package
Q74
25/100
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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Article 35 of Law 24/2009 on Contracts in the Public Sector in the Areas of Defence and Security states that “the award of contracts…
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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. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Arms Transfer Database for 2015-19…
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. The situation of imports, outlined in 75A, from a small number of countries has…
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. Felix Artega, of the Royal Institute Elcano, stated that “decisions on major weapons programmes…
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