Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest arises in procurement when an individual involved in the process — evaluator, procurement officer, technical advisor, or authority official — has a relationship with a tenderer that could, or could appear to, influence their professional judgment. This includes financial interests (shareholdings, family business ties), employment relationships (former employer bidding), personal relationships (close family member employed by a bidder), or consultancy roles with bidding firms.

EU Directive 2014/24/EU requires contracting authorities to take appropriate measures to prevent, identify, and remedy conflicts of interest. Standard measures include mandatory disclosure declarations from all procurement team members, recusal requirements when a conflict is identified, and procurement design that separates technical specification from evaluation where industry specialists are used.

For vendors, a declared conflict of interest involving an evaluator is grounds for challenge if it affected the outcome. Equally, vendors must manage their own relationships: using former government officials in business development without careful ethical review can raise access and undue influence concerns. Some jurisdictions impose mandatory cooling-off periods — typically one to two years — on officials moving to roles with suppliers they previously regulated or procured from. Proactive disclosure, rather than concealment, is invariably the right approach when conflicts are identified.