Brussels, 21/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is planning to unveil new legislation in mid-December to update the two EU directives on public tender to reduce red tape (EU Directives 2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC), alleviating some of the requirements for public authorities and making it easier for small businesses to apply for public contracts. Cooperation among public authorities and the promotion of environmental and social policy issues will also be addressed.
Service contracts. The Commission will also be unveiling a draft directive introducing rules at EU level governing the award of service contracts, similar to the legislation governing the award of public works contracts (see EUROPE 10449). The new directive will not cover services without any cross-border commercial interest (such as social services and healthcare, crèches, school canteens and the like) or contracts for rail and road passenger transport or aviation. Services contracts will be defined in terms of substantial operational risk, in which they differ from traditional public tender because those winning the contract are paid in part from revenue derived from running the contract.
Reciprocity. The unveiling at the same time of draft legislation to breathe new life and greater reciprocity into access to public tender in the EU for companies from outside the EU and vice versa will depend on the outcome of a special impact assessment, but the research may take longer than expected, in which case the legislation will not be unveiled until early 2012. China joining the public tender agreement (expected to be formalised at the 15-17 December 2011 WTO conference in Geneva) may also have a bearing on when the new legislation is unveiled. (MB/transl.fl)