The modernisation of public procurement - COD

Marc Tarabella © European Union
Marc Tarabella © European Union

The IMCO Committee has considered the Commission's proposals for a modernisation of the EU public procurement rules (rapporteur: Marc Tarabella, S&D). This included the revision of Directive 2004/18/EC ("Classic Directive") on procurement by public authorities, and of Directive 2004/17/EC on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors ("Utilities Directive"), as well as a new instrument for the award of concessions contracts.

This was complemented by the adoption of a Directive on electronic invoices in public procurement(e-invoincing), and an international procurement instrument (IPI)on access to/from third country procurement markets, conducted jointly by IMCO and INTA. Public procurement is the process used by government institutions, public sector organisations and certain undertakings in the utilities sectors to buy supplies, services and public works. Such expenditure is a significant/influential component of the economy. The reform aimed to make the existing rules more flexible and easier to apply, to enable a greater strategic use of public purchasing power (to achieve green, social and innovation-related objectives) and to increase the use of new procurement techniques and tools such as joint buying and e-procurement. The basic challenges had already been debated in 2 IMCO own-INI reports (rap.: H. Rühle, Greens), adopted in plenary in 2010 and 2011 in response to the EC Green paper consultation.