IMCO

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Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO):

Linking the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy to public procurement policy: building on current reform proposals modernising tendering in the EU to guarantee ‘best value for money’, which criteria and instruments should the EU and its Member States use in order to ensure transparent, efficient and competitive use of public funds?

Committee Article

Each year, the public authorities spend 18% of GDP on goods, services and works. This is a large sum which needs to be spent wisely given the current budgetary restrictions and economic difficulties in most Member States, public procurement policy must, more than ever, ensure the optimal use of funds in order to foster growth and job creation and thereby help to achieve the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The revision of the Public Procurement Directive aims at encouraging open and transparent competition delivered through competitive tendering throughout the EU. Announced by the Commission in 2011, the revision is part of an overall programme to thoroughly modernise public tendering in the European Union. You will need to consider many aspects such as the role of public-private partnerships or how to fight corruption (some studies suggest that up to 25% of public contracts‘ value is lost due to corruption) in answering this question.

Links:

  • €120 billion lost to corruption in EU each year, EUObserver: http://euobserver.com/justice/119300
  • An overview of public procurement by the European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/index_en.htm
  • Reform proposal by the Commission: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-11-932_en.htm?locale=en

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