SYRIZA: «Opacity in the information campaign for the covid-19 vaccination»

Question and ACP tabled by 41 MEPs SYRIZA - Progressive Alliance, on the initiative of Minister of Digital Governance, Marios Katsis and of Deputy Information and Communication Officer, Natasha Gara and the theme of the transparency of funding for the National Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign communication programme.

The MPs of the Opposition noted:

«With Article 74 of Law no. 4761/2020 (Government Gazette 248/A/13-12-2020) passed last December, it was decided that an information campaign on covid-19 vaccination should be carried out. However, the procedure for carrying out this campaign refers to practices Pezza List.

Η Kikilia list, as it was called - and not without reason - is another case of opacity, similar to the other opaque ones.

So far, the total amount that the government has taken from the public coffers and channelled with complete opacity to various media for «communication projections», totals EUR 60 million.

As regards the Kikilias List, the budget was set at EUR 18.5 million. This initial allocation was the second largest allocated so far, after the Petsas List. However, it seems that it was not enough.

By a recent joint decision of the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs. Finance and Health, the expenditure is increased by 1.24 million, now reaching 20 million euros.

This decision is the second amendment in a row of the joint decision of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Cyprus, implementing Law 4671/2020. Finance and Health. As stated in Article 74 of Law No. 4761/2020, « The Ministry of Health may organize a National Campaign of Vaccination against the COVID-19 coronavirus (National Campaign), with the aim of forming positive conviction and active participation of citizens in vaccination against the COVID-19 coronavirus».

This campaign would «run» until May 30, 2021 and would be based on «cooperation and partnerships with public and private bodies in general, including in particular political parties, the Church of Greece, local authorities of first and second degree, medical and pharmaceutical associations, patient associations and other scientific associations, associations and bodies, professional associations and trade unions, sports and cultural associations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), with the aim of providing safe information and broadening citizens» participation in the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

A three-member committee, fully controlled by the Minister of Health, is given full oversight of the project.

A special acceptance committee is responsible for the acceptance of the deliverables, whose members are not described in Law 4671/2020, but are defined by an implementing Decree. Until the aforementioned 2nd amendment, this committee had not been appointed, as there is no mention of a decision to appoint and set up the committee.

The same article refers to «two (2) contracts for respectively: a) the creative design of the citizens» information campaign [...] and b) the dissemination, by any appropriate means, whether printed, audiovisual or electronic, of its messages and material".

For these contracts, the competent authority is the three-member Committee, which «issues a call for a period of five (5) days and proceeds to a direct negotiated procedure pursuant to paragraph c’ of par. 2 of Article 32 of Law No. 4412/2016 (A’ 147), notwithstanding more specific national provisions concerning the award of relevant services.’

However, the fact that the Government invokes the above provision is contrary to common sense, since it states that the direct negotiated procedure is permitted «to the extent strictly necessary where, owing to an extreme urgency caused by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, it is not possible to comply with the time limits laid down for open, restricted or competitive negotiated procedures».

By invoking this provision, the government either admits its incompetence and lack of plan and untimely planning, or proves that all it cares about is to continue in this sensitive matter the tactic of bypassing any competitive procedure.

It is stressed that «the contract is awarded on the basis of the evaluation criterion of the most economically advantageous tender on the basis of price» and that the Commission «has the obligation to monitor the proper performance of the contract by the contractor».

The Ministers are asked:

1. Why six months after the adoption of the relevant bill and while the vaccination process is ongoing, is there a lack of action and a lack of information for citizens?;

2. On the basis of what need was an additional expenditure of EUR 1.24 million deemed appropriate?;

3. For what reasons in the implementing Decree of Law 4671/2020 (D1a/GP.οικ.83217/24.12.2020 - Government Gazette B’5717/24-12-2020) and its 1st amendment (D1a/GP.οικ.9751/12.2.2021 - Government Gazette B’608/16-2-2021), did the General Accounting Office of the State not get involved in the payment procedure?;

4. For what reasons in the 2nd amendment to the 2nd amendment of the implementing Decree of Law 4671/2020 (D1a/GP.οικ.28176/6.5.2021 - Government Gazette B’1879/11-5-2021), the provision for advance payment of amounts to SMEs for the partial provision of promotional services, according to article 114 of Law 4270/2014;

5. Which partial deliveries have been made to date, to what amounts of money and what payments have been made to SMEs and contractors?;

6. Has the special acceptance committee of paragraph 4 of article 74 of Law 4671/2020 been appointed and constituted, which is responsible for the acceptance of the deliverables? If not, who is responsible for the receipt of deliverables and what is the legal basis of the procedure?;

7. Will the Ministry know the exact details of where and how the funds for the information campaign will be allocated, as set out in the EIS?; What are the terms and conditions for media participation in the campaign? and what procedures will be used to presume and ensure allocation based on audience and media readership?;

8. Will the quota of the allocation of the advertising expenditure of 30% be respected at least in the media of the Region (by analogy with the provisions of Article 4 of P.D 261/1997 and as amended by Law 4487/2017)?;

We request that the Ministers submit the following documents:

1) The contracts described in paragraph 3 of article 74 of Law No. 4761/2020 and relate to a) the «creative design of the citizens» information campaign« and b) the »information of citizens on all individual issues related to their vaccination", as well as the relevant documents relating to the relevant call to interested parties (evaluation criteria, financial offers submitted, services offered, possible objections, etc.)

2) The decision of approval by the Tripartite Committee of the Ministry responsible for the project and the relevant recommendations for the specific information programme, from which the analysis of the actions, the content and the budget of the programme, as well as the minutes of the respective meeting(s) of the Committee, are derived. Also, the minutes of the relevant meetings and any report (with the necessary accompanying quantitative and qualitative data) of the Committee on the «monitoring of the proper execution of the contract by the contractor», as well as of the special acceptance committee on the «acceptance of the deliverables», which are their obligation and responsibility, respectively, in accordance with paragraph 4 of Art.74 of Law No. 4761/2020 and the applicable CBAs. Furthermore, the Decree by which the special acceptance committee was appointed and constituted.

3) A detailed list of the allocation of the amounts per media and the presumptions of audience and readership on which the allocation decisions are based.

4) Any payment order made to SMEs and contractors.»