“When evaluating offers, the focus is mainly on the value for money, not on the result and quality obtained for the money,” said Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, a member of the European Court of Auditors, one of the concerns of the recent report . “Other indicators, such as respect for the environment or innovation, are rarely taken into consideration to determine the winner of a tender. The opportunities that the rules actually offer are missed.”
The reform did not simplify the procedures
The Court of Auditors says that the reform brought about in the European Union in 2014 did not make public procurement procedures more attractive and did not significantly reduce bureaucracy. Instead of more competition, simpler procedures and getting the best outcome for taxpayers’ money, public procurement procedures have been halved in ten years.
Procurement transparency is also an issue. One of the objectives of the reform was to improve the participation opportunities of small and medium-sized enterprises, but their participation in procurement did not increase either and the majority of tenders were still won by the companies offering the lowest price.
The European Commission launched a new strategy in 2017, but both the Commission and member states have done too little to uncover the root causes of decreased competition.
Competition has not improved
The performance of the three main competitive indicators – number of single-bidder procedures, number of direct contracts and number of bidders – remained unsatisfactory in most Member States and overall competition did not improve. In 2021, the number of single-bidder procedures peaked, with a single company bidding on 42% of all procurements. It emerges that since 2011 the number of contracts with a single bidder has almost doubled, while the number of companies submitting offers has halved.
Often, when awarding a contract, the authorities asked one or more companies to submit a bid directly, without launching a public tender. “Such direct contracts distort competition. This is allowed under certain conditions, but such cases should be an exception,” Pentus-Rosimannus said.
Every year, EU countries spend around two trillion euros, or around 14% of EU GDP, on public procurement. Practices differ from country to country: in 2021, the highest share of direct contracts was recorded in Cyprus (42%) and the lowest in Greece (3%).
The share of direct contracts concluded in Estonia is in the middle of these with 21%. The highest share of single-operator procedures was recorded in Slovenia (73%), in Estonia there were 31% of single-operator procedures, the smallest share was recorded in Malta (12%).
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2023-12-06 12:23:00
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