Tender Defender – Cards on the Table!

The European Union (EU) and national governments allocate billions of euros every year to finance public projects such as schools, hospitals, power stations and dams. With investments on this scale, there are major risks for widespread corruption.

Corrupt companies with political connections can win tenders over their competitors. In other cases, companies within the same industry collude and rig the bidding process, so each gets a piece of the pie. This can result in the cost of public services going up by as much as 50 per cent. It’s estimated that corruption in public procurement alone costs EU citizens up to 5 billion euros every year.

Civil society organisations and the public can play their part in turning things around by asking for more transparency and integrity in the management of public funds. But that’s not all: the public can be actively involved in monitoring public procurement with tools like Integrity Pacts.

Tender Defender is a board game that helps civil society groups, journalists, activists, and others learn about public procurement and identify corruption risks that may arise.

Through the eyes of a company director or a procurement department officer, players become better aware of just how important it is to uphold transparency and accountability in the public contracting process. They also gain a better understanding of ways to fight corruption.

Anyone can play the game: just download it and print it out.

On your marks, get set, go!