Box 6.13. Example of an exclusion mechanism: Germany’s competition register
Since 2021, Germany’s Competition Register, an electronic platform hosted by the German Federal Cartel Office, allows contracting authorities in Germany to address misconduct in procurement processes by excluding the relevant company while also encouraging accountability and rehabilitation:
Final convictions and penalty orders issued by criminal courts for offences including corruption and bribery are registered in the Competition Register and enable contracting authorities to comply with their general obligation to exclude companies convicted of corruption from public procurement, in accordance with the German Public Procurement Act.
Companies may be removed from the Competition Register in two cases. Entries in the register will be automatically deleted three or five years (depending on the specific offence) after the date of the company’s final conviction (Section 7 of the Competition Register Act). The company can also demonstrate at any time that it took adequate “self-cleaning” measures under public procurement law. The onus to prove the adequacy of self-cleaning measures is on the company and the decision is ultimately taken by the contracting authority or by the Federal Cartel Office. The prerequisites for self-cleaning are defined in Section 125 of the German Competition Act and the Guidelines issued by the German Federal Cartel Office. Effective Corporate Compliance is a key issue here.
