The European Commission, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as well as the Open Contracting Partnership are joining forces to enhance the quality as well as transparency of public tenders co-funded by EU funds in Poland and Greece. Thanks to their support, two pilot projects will provide expertise and hands-on support to public authorities in both places, with a focus on digital innovation.
By marketing the bright use of open data and invention, the 2 pilots will help public administrations to much better plan, implement as well as keep an eye on the procurement of is effective, services and goods. This will better the use of public resources and increase opportunities for companies, particularly for small and medium businesses (SMEs). Furthermore, thanks to a cooperation with neighborhood civil society organisations, this initiative will also favour transparency of public investing and also stimulate citizens’ participation within the monitoring of investments with an immediate effect on the town, like investments in sustainability, social inclusion and local progress.
The two pilot projects
In Greece, the task will aim at consolidating as well as integrating all databases into an individual wise public contract register. This will enable online access for citizens and bidders, improve quality of information and facilitate the usage of data-driven analytical resources for checking the procurement process.
In Poland, the initiative will help support Polish local and national authorities to introduce open details in public procurement and increase automated collection, standardisation, and consolidation of procurement information on all tenders.
The two pilots will run until the tail end of 2021 and the outcomes of theirs will be disseminated in an effort to ensure a profitable roll out in some other Member States.
Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, said: “In the programming period 2021 2027, Cohesion policy will go on to help Member States as well as regions in the economic recovery of theirs following the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to boosting competitiveness through new investments in innovation and study, digital transition as well as the implementation of the European Green colored Deal agenda. Through the usage of new technologies, national and local public authorities handling EU funds will be able to devote public money more efficiently ensuring the very best outcomes for businesses” and citizens.
Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, added: “Transparency within public procurement is actually crucial to ensure effectiveness of public investments, inside series with the EU strategic policy goals aiming at a greener, digital plus more resilient Europe. Public authorities can rely on the EU’s public procurement framework, tools like the electronic procurement devices as well as open info for a reliable use of public funds.”
The EBRD Vice-President, Pierre Heilbronn commented: “The EBRD is actually sold on support institutional and legal reforms aimed at seeing to it that procurement laws and methods are actually modern, consistent with international expectations as well as could swiftly react to emerging challenges. Together with Open Contracting Partnership, we are sharing the experience of productive civil society procurement overseeing used on open details. Our joint work intend to produce a framework for enlisting civil planet organisations to support public procurement reforms and use open data to observe procurement.”
Background
In the context of the following long-term EU budget, more than €370 billion from Cohesion policy funds will be invested to support the digital and green transitions belonging to the Member States. Yearly, public authorities inside the EU invest about 14 % of GDP on public procurement, amounting to much more than €1.9 trillion. Virtually half of Cohesion policy funding is channelled through public procurement. The Commission has promoted a series of initiatives targeted at helping Member States to enhance the way administrations & beneficiaries use public procurement for EU investments. These include things like the Integrity Pacts to make sure more efficient and transparent tenders and safeguarding EU taxpayers’ cash. The Commission additionally had taken behavior to facilitate citizen engagement for much better governance as well as effective Cohesion policy investments.
