Brussels, 11/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - In a recently published document, the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE) lists nine basic criteria to ensure the level of excellence for public procurement procedures that is vital given their economic weight. Of an annual turnover of some 1,500 bn euros, public procurement accounts for more than 16% of the European Union's Gross Domestic Product.
According to UNICE, the nine basic criteria are: strong, fair competition; the quest for quality; cost-effective proceedings with controlled deadlines; developing e-procedures; fair access to public procurement for small and medium-sized enterprises; encouraging procedures like competitive dialogue; public-private partnership; accepting that social and environmental criteria allow bids to be selected which must be connected with the aim of the contract; and fair competition between public and private sectors at a time when for the provision of services of general interest, the public sector is displaying more entrepreneurship.