The Public Procurement Portal » In English

Unleash public-sector buying power on cloud

Frederic Nuyts — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:25:31 +0000

European institutions and governments should throw their weight behind joint procurement of computing services to encourage the use of cloud computing, says Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes. In an interview with EurActiv, which has also seen other documents spelling out Kroes’ strategy for cloud, the Commission vice president signalled she intends to enlist the EU’s [...]

Scottish firms ‘locked out’ from public procurement contracts

Frederic Nuyts — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:00:09 +0000

Scotland is losing out on contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds because Scottish firms are “locked out” of major building and infrastructure projects, according to a think-tank. A report by The Jimmy Reid Foundation claimed the current public procurement system seemed to “load the dice in favour of big corporations”. It argued contracts made [...]

A nightmare vision for public procurement

Frederic Nuyts — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:05:09 +0000

Written by Peter Smith - Going back a couple of weeks, Dr. Murray wrote a very thought provoking and clever post – I was well through it before I “got it” I must admit! It’s a “nightmare” or potential vision of a future, in a few years time, when challenging public procurement decisions has become a proper [...]

EU bid to simplify Public Sector procurement

Frederic Nuyts — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:05:17 +0000

Changes to EU legislation could simplify the way that small businesses bid for public sector contracts. The European Commissions is calling for the reformation of the current public procurement system, to make it easier for SMEs to secure work in the sector. If the law was changed, it would offer real hope for UK SMEs [...]

Reform of public procurement rules: an in-depth look

Frederic Nuyts — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:05:35 +0000

December the European Commission set out three new proposed directives, which would significantly amend the existing directives on public sector and utilities procurement and introduce a new directive on “concessions”. The Commission’s proposals aim to remedy some of the perceived deficiencies of the regulations and to promote more efficient buying by government bodies. They will [...]

EU Procurement Regulations – a bulwark against corruption, or a pain in the bulwarks ?

Frederic Nuyts — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:10:02 +0000

By Peter Smith (SpendMatters) - We had an interesting debate last week in our “comments” section around the EU regulations – or the proposed changes to them. It wasn’t an argument really, more a constructive discussion. I wanted to feature it here as it was at least as interesting as most of the material I produce. [...]

Russia : “Public procurement crimes cause $219 mln loss to state”

Frederic Nuyts — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 06:05:51 +0000

Public procurement crimes caused a loss of more than $221.52 million to the budget in 11 months of 2011, deputy head of the Investigative Committee Vasily Piskaryov said in his interview to the Moscow News newspaper published on Tuesday. “Investigators submitted to courts over 200 criminal cases as of late November 2011. State procurement crimes [...]

UK govt ‘should learn German public procurement lessons’

Frederic Nuyts — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:15:26 +0000

The British government can deliver a much-needed boost to the manufacturing sector by learning public procurement lessons from Germany, it has been claimed. Taking a Teutonic approach to industry and purchasing contracts would do a lot to stimulate the economy and make the country less reliant on financial services, according to the TUC. It comes [...]

The European Commission encourages the access to the public procurement for SMEs

Frederic Nuyts — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:00:48 +0000

The European Commission launched an statement in which defends the reform proposals to modernise the existing tools and instruments on public tendering. According to the Commission, the revision of the public procurement Directives will improve the access to the public procurement for SMEs. The revision of the public procurement Directives announced by the Commission in [...]

Lawyers must pitch for State contracts

Frederic Nuyts — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:25:07 +0000

Lawyers will have to compete on price when working for public bodies under rules being introduced this month to cut the State’s €500 million a year bill for legal work. Advertising and public tenders should be “the norm” when contracts are being awarded, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform will tell public bodies in a [...]

European Commission Publishes Staff Working Paper On Public-Public Cooperation

Frederic Nuyts — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:05:24 +0000

The European Commission has published a staff working paper providing a broad overview of the ECJ’s case law on the application of public procurement law to relations between contracting authorities, and the conclusions that the Commission has drawn from it. The Commission recognises that contracting authorities often find it difficult to decide whether the procurement [...]

All aboard? Bombardier, train making and industrial policy in the UK

Frederic Nuyts — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:15:08 +0000

The UK’s last train-making factory was yesterday thrown a lifeline – for now at least – after winning a contract worth £188 million to assemble 130 new rail carriages for the Southern franchise. The plant, now owned by the Canadian multinational Bombardier after numerous ownership changes and accompanying underinvestment, has been under threat since the [...]

Happy New Year 2012 !

Frederic Nuyts — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 01:02:18 +0000

European Commission publishes proposals for modernising public procurement

Frederic Nuyts — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 05:05:32 +0000

Changes to European public procurement which will ensure greater consideration for social and environmental criteria have been proposed by the European Commission. The changes will mean public bodies will have to take into account issues such as life-cycle costs or the integration of vulnerable and disadvantaged persons into projects, rather than simply choosing the cheapest [...]

EU e-procurement agency implements TradeShift

Frederic Nuyts — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 06:05:20 +0000

French government agency ADETEF has signed a deal to use the Tradeshift electronic payments system, in a bid to aid its government’s efforts to support the Pan-European Public Procurement OnLine (PEPPOL) project. PEPPOL is an initiative to supply e-invoicing and e-procurement services across the European Union. The PEPPOL scheme aims to become a universal standard [...]