Commission’s guidance on third country bidders in EU procurement market
On 24th July, the European Commission published a new guidance document “on the participation of third country bidders and goods in the EU procurement market”. It is the first deliverable of the 10 actions set out in the Communication on EU-China relations and supported by the European Council in its March 2019 conclusions.
In particular, and this is a first step in the right direction, the guidance helps contracting authorities identify whether third country bidders have secured access to the EU procurement market – or not (i.e. if their country is a signatory of the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) of the WTO)
It also aims to raise awareness among contracting authorities of the different instruments available in the EU public procurement toolbox (i.e. Directive 2014/24/EU). There is nothing very new here, unfortunately… However, it does confirm that the provision on abnormally low tenders (article 69 of Directive 2014/24/EU) is not effective in tackling tenders from non-EU State-owned companies.
As long as contracting authorities are free to accept non-GPA bidders AND abnormally low tenders are not regulated in a stricter way, this is a lost cause!
It also aims to raise awareness among contracting authorities of the different instruments available in the EU public procurement toolbox (i.e. Directive 2014/24/EU). There is nothing very new here, unfortunately… However, it does confirm that the provision on abnormally low tenders (article 69 of Directive 2014/24/EU) is not effective in tackling tenders from non-EU State-owned companies.
As long as contracting authorities are free to accept non-GPA bidders AND abnormally low tenders are not regulated in a stricter way, this is a lost cause!
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Summer University on Smart Buildings and Cities
Smart Buildings for Smart Cities (SB4SC) will host a summer university in Brussels on 4-5 September. The event will include plenary sessions and workshops and there will also be a site visit to Tivoli Green City, the “most sustainable neighbourhood in Brussels”. FIEC President Kjetil Tonning will be one of the speakers. Further information including how to register can be found on the link below.
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FIEC Newsletter will not be published in August.
However, the office will still stay open and we are preparing for the next quarter, when, amongst other things, we will launch the new FIEC public website and a new Intranet for our members.
We wish you a great summer!
From all at the FIEC Secretariat.