Brussels, 30/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Builders' Confederation, which represents SMEs in the sector, is demanding that the use of public-private partnerships be strictly limited to large-scale public procurement. For other construction sites, the public-private partnership (PPP) procedure is inherently discriminatory because it is too costly and complicated for SMEs, says the EBC in its reaction to the Commission's green paper on PPPs. Construction SMEs support the Commission's position, which is to distinguish between public procurements and concessions according to the method of remuneration and to reserve public procurement PPPs for more complex projects. "If this does not happen, SMEs will be increasingly excluded from having direct access to public procurement", says the Confederation. The EBC is also appealing for legislation on sub-contracting for public procurement and private projects. "To avoid their social and employment obligations, many companies sub-contract works out to craftsmen and small enterprises on which they impose pricing levels and execution conditions beneath profitability and economic feasibility levels", insists the Confederation. It is asking for rules obliging enterprises which get partnership contracts to publish calls for competition when one party to the work is sub-contracting, and to provide a complete list of charge. Sub-contractors should also be protected against unfair competition and unfairly low estimates, says the EBC.
This position will be given within the framework of the consultation on PPPs which will end on 30 July.