The Financing of Political Parties Act (2007, amended 2011) and the Election Law 2003 (amended 2015) are the main laws regulating the financing of political parties in Luxembourg.

There are some limits on the private income of political parties. There are no restrictions on donations from foreign interest. There are bans on donations from corporations, trade unions and anonymous donors. There are no limits on the amount that can be donated.

Public funding is available for political parties and is allocated according to the share of votes in the previous election and the number of candidates. There are specific rules regarding how public funding can be used and those rules permit funding to be used for campaign spending and ongoing party activities Indirect funding in the form of postage costs is available.

Aside from bans on vote buying, there are few spending regulations. There are no bans on state resources being used in favour or against a political party or candidate and there are no limits on spending.

Parties are required to provide accounts annually which include information on finances in relation to election campaigns which must be made public and reveal the identity of donors. Accounts are overseen by the Court of Accounts. Sanctions for breaches of provisions of the law are the loss of public funding, forfeiture and criminal law sanctions.

The majority of Luxembourg’s financial disclosure legislation stems from 2014. Close to no obligatory mechanisms were in place before. With this reform, relatively equal rules apply to Ministers, Members of Parliament and Civil servants. The Code of Conduct (2014, amended 2015) which is an annex to the Standing order of deputies, foresees the disclosure of income from outside employment or assets, gifts, private firm ownership and board membership for both Ministers and MPs. The General Statute for Civil servants (2008, last amended 2016) requires the same disclosures from Civil servants, aside from gifts. Additionally, Civil servants must disclose the profession pursued by their spouse or partner. Aside from this, no financial disclosure on behalf of family members is expected from any public official.

While Ministers and MPs face reprimand, temporary exclusion or deprivation of their allowance in the case of non-filling or making false disclosures, no official filling system exists for Civil servants. Depository and enforcement bodies are not independent with the President taking up this role for Ministers and MPs, and the administrative superior for Civil servants. However declarations made by Ministers and MPs are made publicly available on the homepage of the Chamber of Deputies. No such public scrutiny exists for Civil servants. In addition, a consultative committee has been established which provides guidance in interpreting the new Code of Conduct and makes recommendations on appropriate sanctions to the President.

(Note: The Head of State is a monarch and thus exempted from disclosure laws.)

Avoiding conflicts of interests is part of the regulation for Ministers and MPs as set down in the Standing order of the Chamber of deputies (2009, last amended 2015), as well as for Civil Servants according to the General Statute for Civil Servants (2008, last amended 2015). For all public officials, firm ownership is only forbidden if the activity of the firm is under the supervision of the agency or if it has a significant impact on the activity of the agency. Ministers and MPs may not accept gifts valued over €150 while Civil servants may not accept gifts which may put them in a conflict with their obligations. Simultaneously holding a policy-making and a policy-executing position is forbidden as to the Electoral Law (2003, last amended 2013). This also specifies that Ministers or MPs may not be gainfully employed by the state. No general restriction is made for officials participating in decisions which may affect private interests.

The President may apply administrative sanctions to Ministers or MPs who violate conflicts of interests. For Civil servants, the enforcement of conflicts of interests law falls on the Disciplinary Committee. It may stipulate administrative or penal sanctions. No body or agency is responsible for monitoring or providing guidance as to conflicts of interests.

(Note: The Head of State is a monarch and thus exempted from conflicts of interests laws.)

The access to information framework in Malta is established by the Freedom of Information Act (2009, amended 2012). The Government and its ministries and departments are included, as well as the parliament. The judiciary is covered although the Attorney General's office is excluded. The law covers bodies or persons which provide services to the public on behalf of the Government or are financed by the Government. However, information held by many public institutions is excluded from the scope of the law, eg Electoral Commission, Employment Commission, National Archives, Public Service Commission, Office of the Attorney General, National Audit Office, Security Service; Broadcasting Authority or the Ombudsman. Information held by these bodies is regulated by other laws.

Specific exemptions to disclosure are outlined in the aforementioned FOI law, Official Secrets Act (1923), and Data Protection Act (2002). However, there is a public interest test whereby exemptions to disclosure may be overridden in cases where the public interest outweighs the prohibition on disclosure.

Appeals may be submitted to public authorities through a specific complaint process. Applicants also have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Information and Data Protection Commissioner. Decisions of the Commissioner may be subject to appeal through the Court of Appeal.

The Commissioner can levy fines to those who fail to comply with his/her notices. Destroying evidence with the aim of preventing the disclosure of information to an applicant under the FOIA may also be punishable with imprisonment.

Under the Freedom of Information Act the Minister responsible for FOI and data protection (Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties), shall issue a code of practice providing guidance to public authorities. The law also allows the Ministry, in consultation with the Information Commissioner, to make regulations on a range of matters of implementation.

The Luxembourgish public procurement system is regulated primarily by the Public Markets Act 2009, but there is additional legislation regarding public procurement tenders. The public procurement body is the Department of Public Works under the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure.

The lowest minimum thresholds for conducting a public procurement tender are:

▪         EUR 135,000 for goods

▪         EUR 5,225,000 for works

▪         EUR 135,000 for services

The minimum number of bidders is 5 for restricted procedures and 3 for negotiated procedures and competitive dialogue. The minimum submission period is 52 days for open procedures, 40 days for restricted procedures and 37 for negotiated procedures from dispatch date. There is no information on whether the final beneficial owners have to be disclosed when placing a bid or not.

There is possibility for preferential treatment, as sustainability considerations can be part of the award criteria. However, there are several options for bid exclusion: criminal acts (participating in a criminal organization, corruption, bribery, money laundering affecting the chiefs or other persons with power to represent, decide or control the firm), convictions for bankruptcy. Bids can be also excluded because of abnormally low bid prices.

In the bid evaluation phase, there are conflict of interest restrictions on the composition of the evaluation committee and provisions on the independence of the contracting authority in evaluation committee.

There is no payable fee in case of an arbitration procedure, but publication of decisions depends on the court in charge of the procedure (administrative or criminal court).