The new EU procurement rules 2014 are designed to ensure better value for money and improved quality. The reduction of red tape should also make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to tender.
EU-rules on public procurement apply to public authorities buying works, goods or services.
Note: See latest public sector contracts thresholds.
New EU Procurement Rules 2014 – Summary
They will include tougher rules on subcontracting and have a new award criteria that will put more emphasis on:
- Quality
- Environmental considerations
- Social aspects
- Innovation
Procurement will use the MEAT criteria (most economically advantageous tender). This balances the above elements with price.
One of the aims is to encourage more innovation. This will be achieved through openness – making it possible for tenderers to negotiate innovative solutions during the tendering procedure (as opposed to bidding on a pre-determined specification).
New EU Procurement Rules 2014 – Helping SMEs
Red tape will be reduced to make it easier for SMEs to tender:
- Introducing a standard European Single Procurement Document
- Authorities obliged to share bidders’ details on a national databases – meaning tenderers will not have to keep submitting the same information time and again
- Self-declarations – only the winning bidder will have to provide original documentation
- Encouraging the division of contracts into lots i.e. smaller value contracts
- Annual turnover requirements capped at two times i.e. maximum requirement is that the contract should not represent more than 50% of bidder’s turnover
The new rules will be stricter in order to guarantee fairness and transparency:
- Bidders could be excluded due to
- Conflicts of interest
- Violations of social, labour and environmental laws
- Significant underperformance on another public sector contract
- Modifying contracts during the tender process will be limited without starting a new tender
- Abnormally low tenders will be investigated see Beware – Suicide Bidding!
- Tougher rules on subcontracting
The enforcement of these could certainly help SMEs to compete against larger firms.
Do you need help with public sector tenders? Contact us for a confidential chat about winning more bids.
New EU Procurement Rules 2014 – Thresholds & Enforcement
The thresholds remain unchanged from 2012.
The new rules will enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Then member states will have 24 months to implement them into national law.
It all sounds very positive – especially for small and medium size organisations. Let’s hope we see the impact of the new EU procurement rules 2014 soon!
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