Modernisation of EU public procurement policy: towards a more efficient European procurement market
ECOS-V/013
Modernisation of EU public procurement policy: towards a more efficient European procurement market
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- The Committee welcomes the Commission's view of SMEs as the backbone of the EU economy and believes that ready access for SMEs to procurement procedures is critically important to maintaining employment. It is therefore important that the obstacles faced by SMEs in bidding for contracts be removed as far as possible.
- The Committee would like the Commission to promote the option at national level for bidders to apply for a "procurement passport" (preferably in the form of an electronic registration system), whose content and use would be standardised. Such a passport would demonstrate that an operator has the declarations and documentation that are often requested by contracting authorities during procurement. The fact that they only have to apply once for the passport means that operators do not have to keep presenting the same declarations and documents. This saves considerable time and resources when an operator frequently takes part in procurement procedures.
- The Committee attaches great importance to the possibility of realising through public procurement objectives relating to innovation, social inclusion, sustainability and the environment. Achievement of these objectives is constrained by the criterion that requirements and requests addressed to tenderers must be relevant to the subject matter of the call for tender. Relevance to the subject matter of the call for tender should therefore not be required.
- The Committee welcomes the Commission's view of SMEs as the backbone of the EU economy and believes that ready access for SMEs to procurement procedures is critically important to maintaining employment. It is therefore important that the obstacles faced by SMEs in bidding for contracts be removed as far as possible.
- The Committee would like the Commission to promote the option at national level for bidders to apply for a "procurement passport" (preferably in the form of an electronic registration system), whose content and use would be standardised. Such a passport would demonstrate that an operator has the declarations and documentation that are often requested by contracting authorities during procurement. The fact that they only have to apply once for the passport means that operators do not have to keep presenting the same declarations and documents. This saves considerable time and resources when an operator frequently takes part in procurement procedures.
- The Committee attaches great importance to the possibility of realising through public procurement objectives relating to innovation, social inclusion, sustainability and the environment. Achievement of these objectives is constrained by the criterion that requirements and requests addressed to tenderers must be relevant to the subject matter of the call for tender. Relevance to the subject matter of the call for tender should therefore not be required.
