The 2014 revision of European rules governing public procurement has only partially achieved the objectives set - to simplify procedures, make them more flexible and transparent, promote social and environmental dimensions, and contribute to the European Union’s strategic autonomy - according to an evaluation published by the European Commission on Wednesday 15 October.
According to the EU institution, the directives governing public procurement have not really improved legal clarity, in particular because including provisions related to public procurement in several EU sectoral texts has increased the complexity of the rules.
This is not the case with the directive (2014/23) governing the award of concessions.
“The 2014 directives mainly translated flexibility into a large number of procedures, rather than into an ability to adapt to unpredictable situations or to negotiate the best outcomes for the public contracts”, the Commission notes.
Efforts in the area of dematerialisation have helped simplify procurement procedures. However, the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD), designed to help tenderers meet the criteria for participating in a call for tenders, has increased the amount of documentation to be submitted for each procedure.
Competition. According to the Commission, the 2014 legislative reform has had a mixed effect on competition.
On the positive side, open award procedures account for more than 80% of all contracts, and SME participation has increased, thanks in particular to techniques such as the allotment of contracts.
On the negative side, the average number of bids per procedure fell (from 5 to 3), even though contracts worth more than €20 million received an average of 9 bids. In addition, the proportion of procedures resulting in only one tender has increased, while the proportion of contracts awarded without competition has remained stable and still exceeds 5% of total public procurement in five Member States (Cyprus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia).
Finally, cross-border participation in invitations to tender remains limited (between 2% and 3% of the number of awards and around 4% of the total awarded value). Nevertheless, 20% of a public contract’s value is indirectly awarded to foreign companies integrated into the beneficiary company’s value chains.
Strategic objectives. As far as using public procurement to advance social and environmental considerations, the Commission notes uneven progress. In its view, the directives’ specific provisions are viewed positively, but contracting authorities are still cautious about using qualitative criteria to select tenders.
Finally, public procurement does not contribute sufficiently to the EU’s strategic independence, particularly with a view to securing supplies.
See the Commission’s evaluation: https://aeur.eu/f/j22 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)