The Council of Europe organised a specialised training on detecting and combating corruption in public procurement on 15-16 April 2026 in Tunis through the joint EU-Council of Europe project AGELA. This new edition which builds on a previous cycle delivered in November 2025 and completes the capacity building effort initiated with the CGF enabled all auditors of the Contrôle Général des Finances (CGF) to deepen their understanding of corruption risks in public purchasing and to strengthen their ability to identify, analyse and prevent them.
Public procurement represents a substantial share of Tunisia’s economy and remains particularly vulnerable to corruption due to the scale of expenditure, the diversity of sectors involved and the complexity of procedures. Strengthening the capacities of oversight bodies is therefore essential to reinforce integrity, transparency, and accountability in the management of public resources.
The event brought together twenty-six CGF auditors who participated in an intensive programme combining theoretical discussions with practical case-based exercises. The sessions examined corruption risks at each stage of the procurement cycle, analysed the Tunisian legal and institutional framework, and reviewed international approaches to preventing and detecting irregularities.
Experts from the Council of Europe, the French Anti-Corruption Agency (AFA) and the Tunisian High Authority for Public Procurement (HAICOP) contributed to the training. Participants discussed the role of audit institutions in safeguarding procurement integrity, explored conflict of interest situations, and considered how transparency and good governance practices can reduce vulnerabilities.
The programme also highlighted the contribution of new technologies, including the TUNEPS e-procurement system, to improving traceability and supporting investigations.
Group work enabled participants to apply the concepts discussed by analysing fictional procurement scenarios, identifying red flags, and proposing appropriate safeguards and follow up measures. The exchanges also brought to light several structural challenges affecting integrity in public procurement, including a fragmented institutional framework, limited information sharing, lack of understanding by purchasing entities of the public procurement process and the associated corruption risks, and insufficient follow up on audit recommendations by audited entities.
This activity was organised within the framework of the Council of Europe’s Neighbourhood Partnership with Tunisia 2022–2025 and in collaboration with the joint European Union–Council of Europe project Improving Economic Governance for Anti-Corruption in Tunisia (AGELA), co-financed by both organisations and implemented by the Council of Europe.