Activities of Satu HASSI related to 2011/0438(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on public procurement
Amendments (16)
Amendment 30 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Public procurement plays a key role in the Europe 2020 strategy as one of the market-based instruments to be used to achieve a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth while ensuring the most efficient use of public funds. For that purpose, the current public procurement rules adopted pursuant to 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 and 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 have to be revised and modernised in order to increase the efficiency of public spending,enable procurers to make better use of public procurement in support of sustainable development and other common long term societal goals, thereby increasing the efficiency of public spending by ensuring best value for money, and to facilitatinge in particular the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in public procurement and to enable procurers to make better use of public procurement in support of common societal goals. There is also a nee. There is also a need to simplify the Directives, particularly with regard to how sustainability objectives can be incorporated into public procurement, and to clarify basic notions and concepts to ensure better legal certainty and to incorporate certain aspects of related well- established case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Amendment 35 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) Under Article 11 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, environmental protection requirements must be integrated into the definition and implementation of the Union policies and activities, in particular with a view to promoting sustainable development. This Directive clarifies how the contracting authorities may contribute to the protection of the environment and the promotion of sustainable development, whilstthereby ensuring that they can obtain the best value for money for their contracts.
Amendment 36 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5 a (new)
Recital 5 a (new)
(5a) Contracting authorities have broad discretion to choose the technical specifications that define the supplies, services, or works they seek to procure. Further, they have broad discretion to use both technical specifications and award criteria to achieve a contracting authority's objectives, including specifications and criteria designed to achieve more sustainable public procurement. Technical specifications and award criteria, including those relating to sustainability objectives, must be linked to the subject matter of the procurement contract. Provided that the link to the subject matter rule is satisfied, this Directive is not intended to further constrain the types of concerns that a contracting authority can address through technical specifications or award criteria.
Amendment 50 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) Research and innovation, including eco-innovation and social innovation, are among the main drivers of future growth and have been put at the centre of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Public authorities should make the best strategic use of public procurement to spur R&D and innovation. Buying the R&D and deployment of innovative goods and services plays a key role in improving the efficiency and quality of public services while addressing major societal challenges. It contributes to achieving best value for public money as well as wider economic, environmental and societal benefits in terms of generating new ideas, translating them into innovative products and services and thus promoting sustainable economic growth. This de Directive should contribute to facilitating public procurement of innovationR&D and innovative goods and services and help Member States in achieving the Innovation Union targets. It is therefore appropriate to clarify as much as possible the possibilities to procure R&D and innovative goods and services. A specific procurement procedure should therefore be provided for which allows contracting authorities to establish a long-term innovation partnership for the development and subsequent purchase of a new, innovative product, service or works provided it can be delivered to agreed performance levels and costs. The partnership should be structured in such a way that it can provide the necessary ‘market-pull’, incentivising the development of an innovative solution without foreclosing the market.
Amendment 63 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 37
Recital 37
(37) Contracts should be awarded on the basis of objective criteria that ensure compliance with the principles of transparency, non-discriminaTo ensure the efficient use of public funds and enable contracting authorities to obtain best value for money, the award procedure should result in the procurement of high-quality works, supplies and services that are optimally suited to contracting authorities' functional and equal treatment. These criteriasustainability objectives. The award procedure should also guarantee that tenders are assessed in conditions of effective competition, also where contracting authorities require high- quality works, supplies and services that are optimally suited to their needs, for instance where the chosen award criteria include factors linked to the production process. As a resultwith contracts awarded on the basis of objective criteria that ensure compliance with the principles of transparency, non- discrimination and equal treatment. Accordingly, contracting authorities should be allowed to adopt as award criteria either ‘the most economically advantageous tender’ or ‘the lowest cost’, taking into account that in the latter case they are free to set adequateformulated to assess the contracting authority's sustainability concerns including, for example, factors linked to the production process and other life cycle characteristics. It should also be noted that contracting authorities are also free to set adequate sustainability and other quality standards by using technical specifications or contract performance conditions.
Amendment 65 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 38
Recital 38
(38) Where cContracting authorities choose to award a contract to the most economically advantageous tender, they must determine the award criteria on the basis of which they will assess tenders in order to identify which one offers the best value for money. The determination of these criteria depends on the subject- matter of the contract since they must allow the level of performance offered by each tender to be assessed in the light ofo identify the tender representing best value, contracting authorities shall use objective criteria that are linked to the subject- matter of the contract, as defined in the technical specifications, and the value for money of each tender to be measured. Furthermore, the chosen award criteria should not confer an unrestricted freedom of choice on the contracting authority and they should ensure the possibility of effective competition and be accompanied by requirements that allow. The chosen award criteria should not confer an unrestricted freedom of choice on the contracting authority, however. Rather, the award procedure should guarantee effective competition through strict compliance with the principles of transparency, non-discrimination and equal treatment. These principles require, among other things, that the information provided by the tenderers to be effectively and transparently verified.
Amendment 66 #
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 hascontinues to advance significantly, advancnd sector-specific applications of life-cycle costing continue to be developed, tested, and refined. It therefore appears appropriate to continue on that path, leaving it toto use 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 toconcerning energy efficiency, climate change and other environmental, societal and innovation procurement in the context of the particular policies and conditions prevailing in the relevant sector to further the use of public procurement in support of sustainable growth. These efforts should incorporate sector-appropriate applications of sound methodologies for life- cycle costing as a further underpinning for. In accordance with other provisions of this Directive, mandatory procurement criteria adopted through sector-specific legislation may also include technical specifications and award criteria that incorporate sustainability considerations relating to generalised social and environmental benefits or harms, even where the use of public procurement in support of sustainable growthhave not been or cannot be monetised, provided that they are linked with the subject matter of the contract and strictly adhere to the principles of transparency, non- discrimination, and equal protection.
Amendment 181 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 66 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point a
Article 66 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point a
(a) the mobest economically advantageousvalue for money tender;
Amendment 183 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 66 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point b
Article 66 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point b
(b) the lowest life-cycle cost.
Amendment 185 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 66 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 66 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Amendment 188 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 66 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
Article 66 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
2. The mobest economically advantageousvalue for money tender referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 from the point of view of the contracting authority shall be identified on the basis of criteria linked to the subject-matter of the public contract in question. Those criteria shall include, in addition to the price orlife-cycle costs referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1, other criteria linked to the subject-matter of the public contract in question, such as:
Amendment 192 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 66 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 66 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) quality, including technical merit, aesthetic and functional characteristics, accessibility, energy efficiency performance, design for all users, environmental characteristics and innovative character;
Amendment 196 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 66 – paragraph 2 – point d a (new)
Article 66 – paragraph 2 – point d a (new)
(da) impact of the contract on sustainable development, including in any stage of the life-cycle. such impact need not to be monetised provided that the criteria used comply with paragraph 4.
Amendment 198 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 66 – paragraph 3
Article 66 – paragraph 3
3. Member States may provide that the award of certain types of contracts shall be based on the most economically advantageous tendertender with best value for money as referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 and in paragraph 2.
Amendment 199 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 66 – paragraph 4
Article 66 – paragraph 4
4. Award criteria shall not confer an unrestricted freedom of choice on the contracting authority. They shallAward criteria used to identify the tender representing the best value for money must be: a) linked to the subject matter; b) ensure the possibility of effective competition; and shall bec) accompanied by requirements that allow the information provided by the tenderers to be effectively verified. Contracting authorities shall verify effectively, on the basis of the information and proof provided by the tenderers, whether the tenders meet the award criteria.
Amendment 226 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 76 a (new)
Article 76 a (new)
Article 76a Green Public Procurement 1. In order to encourage the most energy- efficient office equipment products, the Commission and other Community institutions, as well as other public authorities at national level, should, without prejudice to Community and national law and economic criteria, use energy-efficient requirements not less demanding than the Energy Star Common Specifications, as defined in Regulation (EC) No 106/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2008, when purchasing office equipment products 2. Contracting authorities which conclude procurement contracts covered by this Directive, should only procure products which are classified in the highest performance levels under specific implementing measures of the Energy Labelling Directive (Directive 2010/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 2010). 3. In case contracting authorities choose products of lower performance level than set out in point a) and b) of this article, this decision shall be separately justified with regard to the full lifecycle cost of the contract. 4. When public bodies purchase products, systems, services and buildings, Member States shall ensure that they purchase products, systems, services and buildings with high energy efficiency performance, based on a whole lifecycle analysis as referred to Article 67. Without prejudice to Article 5 of the Energy Efficiency Directive, when purchasing or renting a collection or group of products, systems, services or buildings, the aggregate energy efficiency should take priority over the energy efficiency of an individual purchase, taking into account technical suitability and intended use.