Factoring tax accountability into the next reform of the Procurement Directive

31.1.2018

Question for written answer P-000554-18
to the Commission
Rule 130
Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner (ECR)

The new EU Procurement Directive, which entered into force in 2016, enables accountability issues to be taken more effectively into consideration in public procurement. It offers scant possibilities, however, for employing tax accountability and transparency criteria in procurement procedures. This is a matter of great importance, as public procurement makes up about a fifth of EU GDP. Tax accountability and transparency could be promoted by, for example, requiring large corporate participants in major public procurement procedures to report in detail on their holding companies.

1. When and how will the next reform of the Procurement Directive get under way?

2. How will the Commission ensure that the recent EU initiatives to combat tax evasion and tax avoidance, and to increase the transparency of the related reporting, are taken more fully into account in the Procurement Directive as well?