The European Commission, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Open Contracting Partnership are actually joining forces to enhance the quality as well as transparency of public tenders co-funded by EU money in Poland and Greece. Thanks to the support of theirs, 2 pilot projects are going to provide expertise and hands on support to public authorities in the two countries, with a concentration on digital innovation.
By promoting the smart use of development and open information, the two pilots will help public administrations to better plan, implement and keep an eye on the procurement of succeeds, goods and services. This will improve the usage of public energy and improve opportunities for companies, particularly for little and medium companies (SMEs). Additionally, thanks to a cooperation with local civil society organisations, this initiative will even favour transparency of public investing and also stimulate citizens’ participation in the monitoring of investments with a direct effect on the town, for example investments in sustainability, social inclusion and local development.
The two pilot projects
In Greece, the project is going to aim at consolidating as well as integrating all databases to a single smart public contract register. This will make it possible for online access for citizens and bidders, enhance quality of data and facilitate the usage of data driven analytical tools for monitoring the procurement process.
In Poland, the first step will support Polish national and local authorities to bring in open details in public procurement and boost automated consolidation, standardisation, and collection of procurement information on every tenders.
The 2 pilots will run until the tail end of 2021 and their outcomes will be disseminated with the purpose to guarantee a booming roll out in other Member States.
Commissioner for Reforms and Cohesion, Elisa Ferreira, said: “In the programming phase 2021-2027, Cohesion policy will continue to support Member States as well as regions in the economic recovery of theirs after coronavirus pandemic, along with boosting competitiveness through new investments in research and innovation, the implementation and digital transition of the European Dark green Deal agenda. Through the usage of brand new technologies, national and local public authorities managing EU funds will have the ability to invest public money more effectively ensuring the absolute best outcomes for citizens and businesses”.
Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, added: “Transparency within public procurement is crucial to ensure efficiency of public investments, in series while using the EU strategic policy targets aiming at a greener, digital and much more resilient Europe. Public authorities are able to count on the EU’s public procurement framework, resources like the electric procurement systems and open data for a reliable use of public funds.”
The EBRD Vice-President, Pierre Heilbronn commented: “The EBRD is actually sold on help legal and institutional reforms aimed at making sure that procurement laws as well as strategies are actually contemporary, in keeping with international expectations as well as can swiftly respond to emerging challenges. Together with Open Contracting Partnership, we’re sharing the experience of successful civil society procurement monitoring used on open details. The joint efforts of ours aim to develop a framework for enlisting civil society organisations to allow for public procurement reforms and make use of open data to watch procurement.”
Background
In the context of the next long-range EU budget, more when compared with €370 billion out of Cohesion policy money will be invested to support the digital and green transitions of the Member States. Every year, public authorities within the EU spend around fourteen % of GDP on public procurement, amounting to more than €1.9 trillion. Almost half of Cohesion policy funding is channelled via public procurement. The Commission has promoted a series of initiatives targeted at helping Member States to enhance the way administrations as well as beneficiaries use public procurement for EU investments. These include the Integrity Pacts to make sure more efficient and transparent tenders and also safeguarding EU taxpayers’ money. The Commission also took behavior to facilitate citizen engagement for much better governance and powerful Cohesion policy investments.
