G20
In their final press release at the G20’s virtual summit on 26 March, and in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the planet’s 20 biggest economies called for solidarity, transparency and cooperation with international institutions to “restore confidence, preserve financial stability and revive growth”. At the same time, the member countries announced their plans to inject more than $5,000 billion dollars into the global economy to counter the social, economic and financial repercussions of the pandemic. (L’Obs, 26 March 2020)
The shortage of respirators, masks and other medical tests has created an unprecedented situation of competition between countries and, within States themselves, between public buyers, thus exacerbating the health crisis. No longer a question of transparent tenders, across the planet direct negotiations are now taking place, often accompanied by a predictable train of favouritism, embezzlement and overcharging, and paving the way for future disputes. This observation was made during an online conference on 23 March, “Public Contracts and the Covid-19 Coronavirus”, which brought together public procurement specialists from a number of countries. (Le Monde, 30 March 2020)