Brussels, 20/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - Member states approve of the new competition procedure with negotiation that the European Commission introduced in its “public procurement” directive review (EUROPE 10520). They are of the same opinion with regard to the abolition of differentiated treatment for so-called non-priority services, whilst maintaining a lighter regime for services linked to culture, education and health. A picture is now emerging from the Competitiveness Council debate: “a majority” of delegations want greater access to competition procedure with negotiation, even though some countries are questing safeguards, so that operators are treated equally. This information was confirmed on Monday 20 February by the Danish minister for the economy, Ole Sohn. According to the latter, the Council will have to do everything possible to conclude negotiations on the legislative proposal by the end of 2012, in compliance with the objectives set out by the European Council.
Several member states (Germany, Cyprus, Malta) considered that the new procedure goes in the right direction but some countries considered that it could be more ambitious if it introduced a wider and more generalised scope of application (Austria, Belgium, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, United Kingdom, Slovenia and Sweden). Competition procedure with negotiations will enable the adjudicating authorities to launch negotiation with selected contractors before introducing an initial written offer, in an effort to fine-tune certain modalities, for example concerning legal and financial questions, linked to completing the single market. The objective of the contract, minimum requirements and allocation criteria, will not, however, be able to be modified. Other countries have requested guarantees in an effort to prevent any possible negative repercussions arising (Estonia, Greece and Bulgaria) such as a lack of transparency (Slovakia), excessive discretionary power given to an adjudicating body (Italy) or non-respect of equal treatment (Malta, Sweden and Hungary). Spain was the only country to call for a cautious approach in this domain.
Leaner regime for cultural services. The European Commission is also proposing to scrap the distinction between priority services in Category A and so-called non-priority services in Category B, which are subject to less strict rules. The turnovers observed in Category A and Category B services do not justify this distinction any more, according to the commissioner in charge of the single market, Michel Barnier. Only services linked to culture, education and health will benefit from the lighter regime and services that have a threshold below €500,000 will not be covered in the directive's scope. Several member states (Austria, Estonia, Latvia and United Kingdom) support the scrapping of this distinction between the two categories, on the basis of a cost-benefits analysis. France and Cyprus, however, are questioning this removal, as is Belgium, to a certain extent. Other countries (Spain, Finland, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden) consider a scaled down regime favourably, as suggested by the Commission. This regime is expected to cover legal (Germany), environmental (Finland) and hotel services (Lithuania). To find out what services are expected to benefit, Italy has suggested respect for individually based criteria. (MB/transl.fl)