Public Procurement Act: SGI Europe welcomes the focus on simplification

SGI Europe welcomes the European Commission’s proposal for the Public Procurement Act, which recognises public procurement as a key lever and the importance of using public spending efficiently and effectively. The proposal’s focus on simplification is particularly welcome, as it can help reduce the complexity and fragmentation of the rules across the EU. A clear, simple, practical and legally certain framework is essential for contracting authorities, contracting entities and bidders alike.

Following the presentation of the proposal, Valeria Ronzitti, SGI Europe General Secretary, highlighted:

“SGI Europe welcomes the Commission’s focus on simplification and on streamlining the public procurement procedural architecture. By simplifying the rules while preserving the necessary flexibility and maintaining a focus on ‘how to buy’, public procurement can become a reliable, flexible and forward-looking tool that delivers value for public spending .”

"We acknowledge the ambition to give public buyers greater room to consider factors beyond price, including sustainability, innovation, security and resilience. It is important, however, that these objectives are pursued in a way that preserves the ability of contracting authorities and entities to determine the most appropriate approach for each procurement, and preserving proportionality."

“While fully recognising that transparency is a cornerstone of public procurement, greater transparency cannot be achieved by imposing additional publication obligations on public buyers. Information and reporting requirements need to remain workable, proportionate and focused on delivering meaningful transparency.”

“Proposing a regulation, rather than a directive, can help provide a more coherent and legally certain framework across the EU. However, the new rules will need to be accompanied by sufficient guidance, practical tools and support for public buyers, as well as a sufficiently long implementation period. This is particularly important given the ambition to establish an integrated digital procurement marketplace, which will require adequate time to ensure that existing national, regional and local systems are interoperable, user-friendly and able to deliver the intended simplification.”

SGI Europe will engage with the co-legislators to improve the Regulation and effectively provide a workable and proportionate framework for contracting authorities, contracting entities and bidders.