15 Amendments of Kent JOHANSSON related to 2011/0438(COD)
Amendment 26 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) The award of public contracts by or on behalf of Member States authorities has to comply with the principles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the free movement of goods, freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services as well as the principles deriving therefrom, such as equal treatment, non-discrimination, mutual recognition, proportionality and transparency. However, for public contracts above a certain value, provisions should be drawn up coordinating national procurement procedures so as to ensure that these principles are given practical effect and public procurement is opened up to competition. This will require a high degree of flexibility for Member states in order to promote effective and suitable solutions.
Amendment 45 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Other categories of services continue by their very nature to have a limited cross- border dimension, namely what are known as services to the person, such as certain social, health and educational services. These services are provided within a particular context that varies widely amongst Member States, due to different cultural traditions. A specific regime should therefore be established for public contracts for these services, with a higher threshold of EUR 500 000. Services to the person with values below this threshold will typically not be of interest to providers from other Member States, unless there are concrete indications to the contrary, such as Union financing for transborder projects. Contracts for services to the person above this threshold should be subject to Union-wide transparency. Given the importance of the cultural context and the sensitivity of these services, Member States should be given wide discretion to organise the choice of the service providers in the way they consider most appropriate. The rules of this directive take account of that imperative, imposing only observance of basic principles of transparency and equal treatment and making sure that contracting authorities are able to apply specific quality criteria for the choice of service providers, such as the criteria set out in the voluntary European Quality Framework for Social Services of the European Union's Social Protection Committee. Member States and/or public authorities remain free to provide these services themselves or to organise social services in a way that does not entail the conclusion of public contracts, for example through the mere financing of such services or by granting licences or authorisations to all economic operators meeting the conditions established beforehand by the contracting authority, without any limits or quotas, provided such a system ensures sufficient advertising and complies with the principles of transparency and non-discrimination. In general the needs and choices of individuals should be taken into account when purchasing goods and services intended for their use.
Amendment 53 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) The instrument of framework agreements has been widely used and is considered as an efficient procurement technique throughout Europe. It should therefore be maintained largely as is. However, certain concepts need to be clarified, in particular the conditions for the use of a framework agreement by contracting authorities which are not themselves party to it. The objective conditions for determining which of the policy operators, party to the framework agreement, should perform a given task, such as supplies or services intended for use by natural persons, may, in the context of framework agreements setting out all the terms, include the needs or the choice of the natural persons concerned.
Amendment 61 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) In order to foster the involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and civil society in the public procurement market, contracting authorities should be encouraged to divide contracts into lots, and be obliged to state the reasons for not doing so. Where contracts are divided into lots, contracting authorities may, for instance in order to preserve competition or to ensure security of supply, limit the number of lots for which an economic operator may tender; they may also limit the number of lots that may be awarded to any one tenderer.
Amendment 67 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 39
Recital 39
(39) It is of utmost importance to fully exploit the potential of public procurement to achieve the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy for sustainable growth. In view of the important differences between individual sectors and markets, it would however not be appropriate to set general mandatory requirements for environmental, social and innovation procurement. The Union legislature has already set mandatory procurement requirements for obtaining specific goals in the sectors of road transport vehicles (Directive 2009/33/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles) and office equipment (Regulation (EC) No 106/2008 of the European Parliament and the Council of 15 January 2008 on a Community energy-efficiency labelling programme for office equipment). In addition, the definition of common methodologies for life cycle costing has significantly advanced. It therefore appears appropriate to continue on that path, leaving it to sector-specific legislation to set mandatory objectives and targets in function of the particular policies and conditions prevailing in the relevant sector and to promote the development and use of European approaches to life-cycle costing as a further underpinning for the use of public procurement in support of sustainable growth. Furthermore, the possibility to take into account environmental considerations that go beyond minimum or fully harmonized EU-legislation or the like, are welcomed. Requirements, award criteria or contract clauses etc. must in all cases be in line with the fundamental principles of EU law.
Amendment 71 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 40
Recital 40
(40) These sector-specific measures must be complemented by an adaptation of the public procurement Directives empowering contracting authorities to pursue the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy in their purchasing strategies. It should hence be made clear that contracting authorities can determine the most economically advantageous tender and the lowest cost using a life-cycle costing approach, provided that the methodology to be used is established in an objective and non- discriminatory manner and accessible to all interested parties. The notion of life-cycle costing includes all costs over the life cycle of works, supplies or services, both their internal costs (such as development, production, use, maintenance and end-of- life disposal costs) and their external costs, provided they can be monetised and monitored. Common methodologies should be developed at the level of the Union for the calculation of life-cycle costs for specific categories of supplies or services; whenever such a methodology is developed its use should be made compulsory depending on relevance and proportionality.
Amendment 79 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 50
Recital 50
(50) Member States should designate a single national authorityies in charge of monitoring, implementation and control of public procurement. Such a central bodyies should have first-hand and timely information, particularly in relation to different problems affecting the implementation of public procurement law. ItThey should be able to provide immediate feedback on the functioning of the policy and the potential weaknesses in national legislation and practice and contribute to the quick identification of solutions. In view of efficiently fighting corruption and fraud, thise central bodyies and the general public should also have the possibility to inspect the texts of concluded contracts. High-value contracts should hence be transmitted to the oversight body with a possibility of interested persons to have access to these documents, to the extent that legitimate public or private interests are not jeopardized.
Amendment 80 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 55
Recital 55
(55) It is of particular importance that the Commission carries out appropriate consultations with relevant actors such as representatives for local and regional authorities, civil society, stakeholders etc, during its preparatory work, including at expert level. When preparing and drawing up delegated acts, the Commission should ensure simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and the Council.
Amendment 81 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2– point 1 a (new)
Article 2– point 1 a (new)
(1a) ‘civil society’ means associational life operating in the space between the state and market, including individual participation, and the activities of non- governmental, voluntary and Union organisations;
Amendment 150 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 44 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 44 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Public contracts mayshall be subdivided into homogenous or heterogeneous lots. For contracts with a value equal to or greater than the thresholds provided for in Article 4 but not less than EUR 500 000, determined in accordance with Article 5, where the contracting authority does not deem it appropriate to split into lots, it shall provide in the contract notice or in the invitation to confirm interest a specific explanation of its reasons.
Amendment 227 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 81
Article 81
The jury shall be composed exclusively of natural persons who are independent of participants in the contest. Where a particular professional qualification is required from participants in a contest, at least a third of the members of the jury shall have that qualification or an equivalent qualification. Gender equality should be seeked in the composition of the jury.
Amendment 231 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 84 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 84 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Member States shall appoint a single independent bodyies responsible for the oversight and coordination of implementation activities (hereinafter ‘the oversight body’). Member States shall inform the Commission of their designation.
Amendment 234 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 85 – paragraph 2
Article 85 – paragraph 2
The contracting authorities shall document the progress of all procurement procedures, whether or not those are conducted by electronic means. To that end, they shall document all stages in the procurement procedure, including all communications with economic operators and internal deliberations, preparation of the tenders, dialogue or negotiation if any, selection and award of the contract. The report shall be made public.
Amendment 235 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 87 – paragraph 2
Article 87 – paragraph 2
2. With a view to improving access to public procurement for economic operators, in particular SMEs and civil society, and in order to facilitate correct understanding of the provisions of this Directive, Member States shall ensure that appropriate assistance can be obtained, including by electronic means or using existing networks dedicated to business assistance. The support also includes joint offers made by different actors.
Amendment 236 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 91 – paragraph 1
Article 91 – paragraph 1
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Advisory Committee for Public Contracts established by Council Decision 71/306/EEC. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. Gender equality shall be promoted in the composition of the committee.