blog.tenderio.com Excerpt from “Public Procurement Awarding Procedures, Incentives and Efficiency in Serbia”, European Procurement and Public Private Partnership Law Review, Berlin, Volume 11 (2016) Issue 4. p. 361-369. DOI https://doi.org/10.21552/epppl/2016/4/14 by Slavica Joković PhD
Under the new EU rules, public procurement procedures are becoming a policy strategy instrument in order to implement environmental, social and innovation measures as well as the better access of small and medium sized enterprises to public procurement markets.
The New Directive stipulates that contracting authorities may exclude from participation in a procurement procedure any economic operator in case of violation of applicable obligations in the fields of environmental, social and labour law established by the Union law, national law, collective agreements or by the international environmental, social and labour law provisions.[1]
Furthermore, it notes that contracting authorities shall reject the tender where they have established that the tender is abnormally low because it does not comply with applicable obligations in the fields of environmental, social and labour law established by the Union law, national law, and collective agreements or by the international environmental, social and labour law provisions.[2]
According to the provisions on contract award criteria, “the most economically advantageous tender from the point of view of the contracting authority shall be identified on the basis of the price or cost, using a cost-effectiveness approach, such as life-cycle costing in accordance with Article 68 and may include the best price-quality ratio, which shall be assessed on the basis of criteria, including qualitative, environmental and/or social aspects, linked to the subject-matter of the public contract in question. Such criteria may comprise, for instance: quality, including technical merit, aesthetic and functional characteristics, accessibility, design for all users, social, environmental and innovative characteristics”.[3]
Taking into account the fact that overly demanding requirements concerning the financial capacity in practice constitute an unjustified obstacle to the involvement of small and medium sized enterprises in public procurement, pursuant to the new Directive on public procurement, the minimum yearly turnover that economic operators are required to have shall not exceed two times the estimated contract value, except in duly justified cases.[4]
Serbia adopted a new Public Procurement Law (“Official Gazette of RS”, No 124/12) in December 2012 in order to align further with the EU acquis in this field. The existing public procurement legislation provides for the rules governing the procedures in the award of public procurement contracts, including utilities. The Public Procurement Law is largely based on the EU public procurement legislative framework, namely, Directive 2004/18/EC[5] and Directive 2004/17/EC[6].
In the meantime, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have adopted Directive 2014/24/EU of 26 February 2014 on public procurement, repealing Directive 2004/18/EC; Directive 2014/25/EU of 26 February 2014 on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors, repealing Directive 2004/17/EC and Directive 2014/23/EU of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts.
In overall terms, the need emerged for further harmonization of the Public Procurement Law with the new Directive on public procurement, according to the Public Procurement Development Strategy of the Republic of Serbia for the period 2014-2018 and the Action plan. Especially, further progress in harmonisation between the national legislation and EU Directives in the area of public procurement should be made to promote green procurement, social aspects, innovation, as well as the concept of life-cycle costs and to facilitate access of small and medium sized enterprises to public procurement markets.
Author
Slavica Joković PhD, Doctor of Economics,Visiting Lecturer; published 5 books, specialized in the area of public procurement at International Training Centre of the ILO, Turin, Italy, with the internships of 6 months at the EUROPEAN COMMISSION as well as 3 months at the BANQUE INTERNATIONALE A LUXEMBOURG; independent expert in public procurement policy, economic policy senior advisor with more than 10 years of relevant experience; Giveaway Prize Winner on Readers` Favorite 2017 International Book Award Contest, American Writers & Artists Inc. (AWAI) Member, Member of the academic research network “Public Contracts in Legal Globalization”, Associate Member of the Procurement Law Academic Network – The PLAN Network
[1] Directive 2014/24/EU Article 57/ 4(a)
[2] Directive 2014/24/EU Article 69
[3] Directive 2014/24/EU Article 67
[4] Directive 2014/24/EU Article 58
[5] Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts, Official Journal L 134, 30/04/2004
[6] Directive 2004/17/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors, Official Journal of the European Union L 134, 30.4.2004.
Click here to get in touch with the Tenderio team and find out how we can help your business grow and stay ahead of the tendering game.
If you’d like to start benefitting from the various business services Tenderio has to offer, click here to register free of charge.