Search

Governance is unarguably the largest human enterprise. It involves interactions with diverse stakeholders, including private contractors, for procurements and delivery of public goods and services to the population through the invitation of tenders and bids for auction. Procurement can often lead to disputes given the diverse purposes of such contracts, and the nature of the contracting entities. Disputes arise in three stages: notification, allotment and performance. Private contractors are driven by profit, while the State follows its sovereign and public law obligations. In such high-stakes engagements, effective and efficient dispute resolution is not just desirable but necessary. This paper analyses the legal regime governing public procurement contracts in India, with special emphasis on the relevant dispute resolution mechanisms available. It outlines the existing international law regime on public procurement to suggest arbitration as an effective dispute resolution mechanism. The paper analyses the WTO Model, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement, and the EU Law, to reconcile the issues particular to the Indian context, especially those related to dispute resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Commission aims to amend the EU Public Procurement Directive to prioritize European products in specific sectors, citing benefits for citizens and security of supply. This preference for European products diverges from the EU's usual stance on unrestricted public procurement markets and aligns with recent trade defense measures. However, the EU's ability to implement such preferences is limited by international agreements like the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and free trade agreements. The EU's potential Procurement Preference Framework could mark a significant policy shift towards protectionism, pending formal proposal and approval by Member States and the European Parliament. [Extracted from the article]

Amendments to the Provisions on Stopping of the Procurement Procedure When Filing an Appea... According to the current PPA, an appeal against the procurement documentation stops the public procurement procedure until DKOM issues a decision. Amendments Which Allow the Dismissing of Appeals That Do Not Contain Appeal Grounds The Ministry further points out that some appellants file appeals without appeal grounds. Keywords: Croatia; public procurement act amendments; appeal procedure EN Croatia public procurement act amendments appeal procedure 246 249 4 09/20/21 20210901 NES 210901 I. Introduction The current Croatian Public Procurement Act[1] (PPA) was adopted in late 2016 and entered into force on 1 January 2017. [Extracted from the article]

As a matter of principle, suppliers and goods originating in the European Economic Area, in parties to the WTO's Government Procurement Agreement, or to a bilateral agreement concluded with the EU, are protected against any forms of discrimination based on the grounds of nationality, similar to those coming from the EU. Suppliers originating in other countries, falling outside the scope of Article 25 of Directive 2014/24, cannot, however, be guaranteed the same form of protection. The access of the latter to procurement procedures in the EU may hence be blocked, but this essentially is a prerogative of each national government and of each contracting authority. On the other hand, confronted with an assault by Chinese companies which have managed to capture a dangerously big share of the EU public procurement market, the Commission started an active campaign on several fronts. More recently, the Commission decided to make a substantial effort in convincing Member States to come forward with concrete measures by which to restrict in an effective manner the access of third-country and, in particular, Chinese, suppliers to the EU procurement market. In response, the Romanian Government adopted in April 2021 a new set of laws providing for the automatic exclusion from the award procedures of all suppliers residing in one of the countries listed therein. Beyond its immediate economic effect, this measure could create some serious blockages in the market with unimaginable consequences, especially in times of crisis such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, also due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the issue of using e-procurement is becoming more and more relevant for all countries around the world, and especially for EU Member States implementing the requirements of the Directives on public procurement. The substantial advantages of the use of electronic procedures for public procurement for reduction of tender costs and better prices, the possibility to avoid misuse, collusion and corruption, led some countries to explore opportunities to adapt the traditional e-procurement experience for public-private partnership (PPP) and concession tenders. Today, the regulation in this field is practically absent and the experience is very limited. This article presents: an analysis of the situation regarding current regulation, experience in electronic PPP procurement implementation, and trends; the peculiarities of PPP procurement compared to traditional public procurement; the difficulties related to PPP procurement as e-procurement; and the recommendations of authors on the use of electronic procurements for PPPs and concessions based on the peculiarities of a project implemented using relevant mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy • Consequences of Software Malfunctioning in E-Procurement - The Highest Italian Administrative Court Applies the Proportionality Principle Therefore, the Italian courts are obliged to apply it not only as one facet of the domestic principle of I buon andamento i , which is an internal notion, but also, and mainly, because EU principles must be considered mandatory. 26 Cf M Steinicke and P L Vesterdorf (eds), I EU public procurement law i (Hart 2018) 326-328; P Bogdanowicz, 'The application of the principle of proportionality to modifications of public contracts' (2016) European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review 194 ff. 27 Case C-171/15 I Connexxion i [2016] ECLI:EU:C:2016:948. [Extracted from the article]

Albania • Innovation as a Monitoring Tool to Strengthen Law Enforcement - An Albanian Public Procurement Case Keywords: public procurement law; law enforcement; innovation; efficiency; monitoring tool; negotiation without prior publication; Public Procurement Agency; PPA; Contracting Authority; CA; e-procurement system; EPS EN public procurement law law enforcement innovation efficiency monitoring tool negotiation without prior publication Public Procurement Agency PPA Contracting Authority CA e-procurement system EPS 301 306 6 12/17/20 20201201 NES 201201 The main objective of public procurement legislation is to rule the interaction between public sector and private sector, which is in its core a financial interaction, assuring effective use of public money. The 2005 European Commission (EC) Progress Report on Albania pointed out that very considerable further efforts will be necessary if Albania is to ensure the correct implementation of procurement rules. See Public Procurement Agency of Albania, "Annual Report 2017" (2017), 20. 21 The only task the PPA could execute by that time was counting the negotiated procedures without prior publication and ex-post monitoring responsible Contracting Authorities. [Extracted from the article]

This Part II concludes the paper published in EPPPL 1-2019 regarding the implementation of e-procurement in Portugal. In Part I, the evolution regarding e-procurement provisions within Public Procurement Directives from 2004 to 2014 was addressed. Part II now addresses how both the Public Contracts Code and the specific legislation regarding electronic platforms have transposed the 2014 Public Procurement Directives into internal law, namely: (i) how the transposition of articles 29, 22, 40 and annexes of the 2014 Directives was made [not only the legal regime but also how some litigious questions were taken (and solved) to national administrative courts]; (ii) how the first intention of the Legislator to transpose the 2014 Directives went; and (iii) how they were actually effectively transposed. As already referred to in Part I, the transposition of the 2014 Directives in Portugal was made through a two-step procedure. Article 22 of the 2014/24/Directive was regulated by Law 96/2015, a very extensive and complex regulation regarding e-procurement, while the remaining provisions of the 2014 Directives were transposed in 2017 after a period of public discussion of a very different draft. The path that has been built since 2004 is, thus, consolidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portugal has been leading the way in the implementation of e-procurement within the European Union. This paper, presented in two Parts, starts, in this Part I, by explaining the framework of e-procurement, describing the Portuguese experience regarding the use of electronic platforms based on factual data assembled by the Portuguese regulatory body. Part II describes the legal regime imposed by the European Union Law thoroughly, particularly by article 22 of Directive 2014/24/EU, which is contained in a specific ruling as it has occurred before the full 2014 Directives transposition. To provide the full picture of e-procurement in Portugal, the paper also explains the projected intention of the Directive transposition and the actual legal ruling enshrined in the Public Contracts Code (PCC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: electronic public procurement; e-procurement; Hungary EN electronic public procurement e-procurement Hungary 172 174 3 07/09/21 20210401 NES 210401 In Hungary, electronic public procurement was introduced in 2019 above the national threshold, which made it necessary for all market actors to use the Electronic Public Procurement System (EKR) operated by a company held by the State. Also, it suffices if the contracting authority examines the electronic databases at the end of the procedure; moreover, another option was incorporated, according to which the contracting authority need not evaluate the ESPD in an open procedure, it is sufficient to examine it at the end of the procedure together with the verifications, if the contracting authority so decides. Instead of the earlier restricted competition possibility, procedures may be conducted on the basis of practically the same types of procedures above the national threshold, except for smaller value construction works where a separate procedural type was introduced and has been maintained within the system for years. [Extracted from the article]

Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts and public procurement Directives 2014/24 and 2014/25 were transposed into the Belgian legal system by the Public Procurement Act of 17 June 2016 and the Concession Act of 17 June 2016. The legislation entered into force on 30 June 2017. The main features of the public procurement and concessions regulations are in line with the European Directives. Belgian public procurement and concession rules are not a slavishly copy of the directives however. This contribution discusses some particularities and choices made by the Belgian legislator. A number of provisions are criticized, especially as doubts arise as to their compatibility with European Law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on TenderNed3 which is an e-procurement platform which was set up and is operated by a sub-department of the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. It mentions that TenderNed helps the harmonisation and technical integration in the public procurement domain.

This paper deals with the question whether the implementation of full e-procurement into real life could address the real challenges of EU public procurement and bring us closer to the historical objectives, due to which the public procurement procedures were introduced into EU law. It happened in order to develop a single (public procurement) market, which should result in increase of cross-border trade. In the first part of the paper, the Author deals with the objectives of introducing full mandatory e-procurement as a key novelty of the 2014 EU Directives and discusses bringing e-procurement into real life as a complex challenge. It examines whether Member States, when implementing e-procurement, follow the same objectives as identified in the 2014 EU Directives. In the second part of the paper, the current state of development of the e-procurement market is being analysed alongside the key challenges of EU public procurement that hinder the development of the single (public procurement) market. In the final part of the paper, a possible approach of implementing the full eprocurement into real life is identified, which could address real challenges of e-procurement and eventually lead closer to the fulfilment of historical objectives of a coordinated implementation and management of the procurement process in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Public Procurement Act (ZJN-3) to develop the public procurement in Slovenia adopted by the National Assembly. Topics discussed including implementation of the Directive 2014/24/EU and the Directive 2014/14/EU into the Slovenian legal system, need of modification of the public procurement and challenges related to e-procurement system implementation.

Keywords: public procurement; amendments; European funds EN public procurement amendments European funds 175 175 1 07/09/21 20210401 NES 210401 New public procurement measures were enacted by Law No 30/2021, of 21 May 2021 of the National Assembly. Portugal • Portuguese Framework Law on Public Procurement Amended This new statute approves relevant public procurement measures and amends several rules established by the Public Contracts Code (initially approved in 2008), aimed at expediting and facilitating public procurement procedures. [Extracted from the article]

The author reflects on the condition of the procurement market in Europe. He tackles the growth of the electronic procurement in the European public sector and discusses its impact on the economic development and unemployment. The author also mentions the implementation of the Digital Agenda for Europe and the e-Government Action Plan 2011-2015.