Introduction

Abstract

This book is dedicated to the inseverable link between transparency and corruption in public procurement. Corruption has long been an issue in public procurement and it is often argued that transparency is the key to solving the problem. The work examines corruption in public procurement in three EU Member States, reviewing their different approaches to combating this phenomenon and the extent to which the transparency principle is applied in their procurement systems. The focus of the work is on the contrast between the procurement legislation of a relatively young Member State (Bulgaria) and its unsuccessful attempt to curb corruption by expanding the scope of application of the transparency principle, and two examples of procurement systems where corruption is limited adequately (to some acceptable extent), without requiring an excess of information at each procedural step (Germany and Austria).