8 Amendments of Catherine STIHLER related to 2009/2175(INI)
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union incorporates the notion of a social market economy, a social clause, and a protocol on Services of General Interest defining the values that are shared in the EU, to ensure European policies develop in a way that meets the aspirations of Europe’s citizens,
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Deplores, further, the fact that, in particular as a result of the plethora of soft law proposals put forward by the Commission and Commission departments and of the interpretation of the relevant legal provisions by European courts, the interaction between European, national and regional law has given rise to a complicated and confusing set of rules which is creating, in particular for smaller local authorities and for small and medium-sized undertakings, serious legal problems which they can no longer overcome without incurring substantial administrative costs or seeking external legal advice; urges the Commission to remedy this situation and, as part of the Better Lawmaking initiative, to examine the impact of soft law proposals and assess them in the light of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality; and taking into account the five principles set out in the 2001 White Paper on European Governance (openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness and coherence);
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Criticises the lack of transparency regarding the composition and results of the work of the internal Commission advisory committee on public procurement and calls on the Commission to take steps to ensure that both this committee and the planned new committee on public-private partnerships have a balanced composition including the social partners and work in a transparent manner;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission, when reviewing the public procurement directives, to take account of the opinions expressed in this report; expects that review to be carried out with the full involvement of all stakeholders, but warns that it regards a revision of the directives at this juncture as premature; when such a revision is carried out at a later date, however, advocates that it should also encompass the directive on review procedures concerning public contracts, in order to prevent any further fragmentation of public procurement law; takes the view that the practical impact of that directive cannot yet be assessed, as it has not been transposed in all the Member States, calls on the Commission to apply the relevant Treaty provisions to public procurement;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes the Commission Communication of 19 November 2009 on the development of public-private partnerships and awaits the relevant impact assessment with great interest; expects the Commission to draw lessons from failing PPPs; emphasises that due account must be taken of both the complexity of the procedures and the differences in legal culture and practice between the Member States with regard to service concessions, and doubts, therefore, whether a proposal for a legal act dealing with service concessions would have any added value; takes the view that with the 2004 public procurement directives and the supplementary case-law of the CJEU the process of defining the term ‘service concession’ and establishing the legal framework governing such concessions has been completed;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Is of the view that public contracts concern public funds and that therefore public contracts should be transparent and open for public scrutiny; asks the Commission to clarify this so local and other public authorities have certainty that they can inform their citizens of the contractual obligations entered into;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Draws attention to the great importance of public procurement for climate protection, energy efficiency, the environment and innovation and reiterates that public authorities should be encouraged and put in a position to base public procurement on ecological, social and other criteria; regrets that the Commission has still not published a Guide on Socially Responsible Public Procurement; welcomes the practical assistance given to public authorities and other public bodies in connection with sustainable procurement and urges the Commission and the Member States to organisedevelop objectives and targets for the integration of social criteria in public contracts, reinforced by training courses and campaigns to raise awareness of this issue; supports the idea of a transparent process, involving the Member States, to develop the relevant criteria further; points out that in the area of social criteria in particular such a process offers good prospects for improvements;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Emphasises the lack of clarity in the area of socially responsible public procurement and calls on the Commission to provide assistance in the form of manuals and ‘quality of work’ criteria to support public authorities in integrating employment-related social considerations in public procurement; in that connection, draws attention to the changes in the legal framework brought about by the Lisbon Reform Treaty and the Charter of Fundamental Rights and looks to the Commission to implement the relevant provisions in an appropriate manner; considers that the new EU legal framework strengthens the legitimacy of ILO Convention 94 on labour clauses in public contracts and that Member States who have not yet ratified the Convention should be encouraged to do so; emphasises the underlying problem that social criteria relate to the manufacturing process, so that their impact is generally indiscernible in the final product, and that globalised production systems and complex supply chains make compliance with the criteria difficult to monitor; expects, therefore, precise, verifiable criteria and a database containing product- specific criteria to be developed for the area of socially responsible public procurement as well; draws attention to the problems contracting authorities have, and the costs they incur, in verifying compliance with criteria and calls on the Commission to offer suitable assistance and to promote instruments which can be used to certify the reliability of supply chains; calls on the Commission to assist Member States monitor and evaluate the impact of public procurement processes on the quality of goods and services and employment;