Financial maneuvering by mayors
Of all the reports you have studied so far, which one has made the greatest impression on you so far? I was amazed by the way municipalities carry out huge public works that are budgeted at millions of euros. Mayors break up the projects into many of a smaller value and assign them to contractors of their own choosing, without competitions, and with no transparency. This is the usual practice, as opposed to transparent procedures that include an international competition, issuing a call for tenders in the national and European press so as to achieve a lower cost price for the State. A typical example is of a sewage project for a municipality of 20,000 people funded by the European Union with 100 million euros. There was no call for tenders. As a result, the EU is asking for the return of 80 percent of the funding and has taken legal action against Greece. The project has been completed and so the Greek taxpayer will have to pay for it in the end.
