Activities of Anna CAVAZZINI related to 2012/0060(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
International procurement instrument (debate)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the access of third-country goods and services to the Union’s internal market in public procurement and procedures supporting negotiations on access of Union goods and services to the public procurement markets of third countries
Amendments (31)
Amendment 44 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) In accordance with Article 21 of the Treaty on European Union, the Union is to define and pursue common policies and actions, and improve cooperation in all fields in international relations in order, inter alia, to encourage the integration of all countries into the world economy, including through the progressive abolition of restrictions on international trade, to ensure sustainable development and to foster the sustainable economic, social and environmental development of developing countries, with the primary aim of eradicating poverty.
Amendment 51 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) Many third countries are reluctant to open their public procurement and their concessions markets to international competition, or to open those markets further than what they have already done. As a result, Union economic operators face restrictive procurement practices in many of the trading partner of the Union. Those restrictive procurement practices may result in the loss of substantial tradtrading opportunities. Nevertheless, it should be noted that many third countries apply such restrictions ing opportunitierder to pursue legitimate public policy objectives and development goals.
Amendment 55 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
Amendment 57 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) The objectives of improvingaddressing serious and recurrent impairment to the access of Union economic operators to the public procurement and concessions markets of certain third countries protected by restrictive and discriminatory procurement measures or practices and of preserving equal conditions of competitionand of preserving equal conditions of competition, also with respect for environmental, social and labour standards, within the internal market require to refer to the non- preferential rules of origin established in the EU customs legislation, so that contracting authorities and contracting entities know whether goods and services are covered by the international commitments of the Union.
Amendment 59 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) In the light of the overall policy objective of the Union to support the economic growth of developing countries and their integration into the global value chain, and in line with the Union’s commitment to policy coherence for development pursuant to Article 208 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, which is the basis for the establishment by the Union of a generalised system of preferences as outlined in Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council19 8, this Regulation should not apply to tenders where more than 50% of the total value of the tender is made up of goods and services originating, in accordance with the Union’s non- preferential rules of origin, in least- developed countries benefitting from the "Everything But Arms" arrangement or in developing countries considered to be vulnerable due to a lack of diversification and insufficient integration within the international trading system as defined respectively in Annexes IV and VII to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012. _________________ 19Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008 (OJ L 303, 31.10.2012, p. 1)Generalised System of Preferences.
Amendment 61 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) When assessing whether restrictive and/or discriminatory procurement measures or practices exist in a third country, the Commission should examine to what degree laws on public procurement and concessions of the country concerned ensure transparency in line with international standards in the field of public procurement and preclude any discrimination against Union goods, services and economic operators. In addition, it should examine to what degree individual contracting authorities or contracting entities maintain or adopt discriminatory practices against Union goods, services and economic operators. In doing so, the Commission should assess and seek information from the country concerned regarding the extent to which such practices may be legitimate in accordance with the country’s public policy objectives and development goals.
Amendment 63 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
Amendment 65 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18 a (new)
Recital 18 a (new)
(18a) Third country economic operators are not always bound by the equivalent environmental, social or labour standards as those applicable to EU economic operators creating an uneven level- playing field in the Union’s public procurement market. Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU foresee a certain number of provisions for Member States and contracting authorities to ensure compliance with obligations in the fields of environmental, social and labour law at both national and Union level, as well as with obligations stemming from international conventions that may result in the exclusion of certain bidders. However, the application of those rules might prove insufficient to address possible distortions. The instruments foreseen under this Regulation should therefore aim at fostering the application of EU public procurement rules in this area;.
Amendment 68 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19 a (new)
Recital 19 a (new)
(19a) In the determination of whether the start of an investigation and/or the adoption of a measure under the International Procurement Instrument ('IPI') is in the interest of the Union, the general objective of addressing serious and recurrent impairment to market access opportunities for Union economic operators should be given special consideration. The Commission should also take into account the presence of third country bidders on the EU procurement market at a given moment. IPI measures may not be applied where the Commission, on the basis of all information submitted, can clearly conclude that it is not in the Union interest to apply such measures; the Commission should pay particular attention to sectors that are considered strategic in respect of EU public procurement;
Amendment 70 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19 b (new)
Recital 19 b (new)
(19b) When conducting its investigation, the Commission should also take into consideration the application or non- application by a third country of environmental, social and labour standards stemming from international conventions in those fields which the country has ratified and that are listed in Annex X of Directive 2014/23/EU, Annex X of Directive 2014/24/EU and Annex XIV of Directive 2014/25/EU. The Commission should equally include findings on the implementation of the Paris Agreement by the third country in question. If the investigation confirms the non-conformity with applicable rules, the results of the investigation should be used by contracting authorities to apply provisions foreseen under Directives 2014/24/EU, 2014/23/EU, 2014/25/EU with respect to the performance of contracts or in cases of abnormally low tenders.
Amendment 73 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) If the consultations with the country concerned do not lead to sufficient improvements to the tendering opportunities for Union economic operators, goods and services within a reasonable timeframe, the Commission should be able to adopt, where appropriate, price adjustment measure applying to tenders submitted by International Procurement Instrument (IPI) measures under the form of a score adjustment measure applying to tenders or by providing for the exclusion from the tender procedure of economic operators originating in that country and/or including goods and services originating in that country.
Amendment 77 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) Such measures should be applied only for the purpose of the evaluation of tenders comprising goods or services originating in the country concerned. To avoid circumvention of those measures, it may also be necessary to target certain foreign-controlled or owned legal persons that, although established in the European Union, are not engaged in substantive business operations that have a direct and effective link with the economy of at least one Member State . Appropriate measures should not be disproportionate to the restrictive procurement practices to which they respond.
Amendment 81 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) In order to simplify the application of a price adjustmentn IPI measure by contracting authorities or contracting entities, there should be a presumption that all economic operators originating in a targeted third country with which there is no agreement on procurement will be subject to the measure, unless they can demonstrate that less than 50% of the total value of their tender is made up of goods or services originating in the third country concerned.
Amendment 82 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
Amendment 86 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) It is imperative that contracting authorities and contracting entities have access to a range of high-quality and sustainable products meeting their purchasing requirements at a competitive price. Therefore contracting authorities and contracting entities should be able not to apply price adjustment, in exceptional circumstances, not to apply IPI measures limiting access of non- covered goods and services in case there are no Union and/or covered goods or services available which meet the requirements of the contracting authority or contracting entity to safeguard essential public needs, for example in the fields of health and public safety, or where the application of the measure would lead to a disproportionate increase in the price or costs of the contract.
Amendment 87 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) In case of misapplication by contracting authorities or contracting entities of exceptions to price adjustmentIPI measures limiting access of non-covered goods and services, the Commission should be able to apply the corrective mechanism of Article 3 of Council Directive 89/665/EEC20 or Article 8 of Council Directive 92/13/EEC21 . In addition, contracts concluded with an economic operator by contracting authorities or contracting entities in violation of price adjustmentIPI measures limiting access of non-covered goods and services should be ineffective. _________________ 20Council Directive 89/665/EEC on the coordination of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the application of review procedures to the award of public supply and public works contracts (OJ L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 33). 21Council Directive 92/13/EEC coordinating the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the application of Community rules on the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors (OJ L 76, 23.3.1992, p. 14).
Amendment 90 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
This Regulation establishes measures intended to improveensure a fair level-playing field in the international procurement market and address practices that result in serious and recurrent impairment to the access of Union economic operators, goods and services to the public procurement and concessions markets of third countries. It lays down procedures for the Commission to undertake investigations into alleged restrictive and discriminatory procurement measures or practices adopted or maintained by third countries against Union economic operators, goods and services, and to enter into consultations with the third countries concerned.
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
It provides for the possibility of applying price adjustmentIPI measures to certain tenders for contracts for the execution of works or a work, for the supply of goods and/or the provision of services and for concessions, on the basis of the origin of the economic operators, goods or services concerned. .
Amendment 96 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 4
Article 1 – paragraph 4
4. This Regulation shall apply only with regard to restrictive and/or discriminatory procurement measures or practices implemented by a third country in respect of purchases of non-covered goods and services. The application of this Regulation shall be without prejudice to any international obligations of the Union.
Amendment 97 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 5
Article 1 – paragraph 5
Amendment 99 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. This Regulation shall also provide tools for the effective enforcement of the provisions foreseen in Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and Directive 2014/25/EU in respect of covered and non-covered goods and services where investigations by the Commission demonstrate breaches with relevant international standards in the field of environmental, social and labour law as listed in Annexes X of Directives 2014/23/EU and 2014/24/EU and in Annex XIV of Directive 2014/25/EU, as well as with commitments undertaken under the Climate Paris Agreement.
Amendment 103 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
(fa) 'IPI measure' means a measure adopted by the Commission in accordance with this Regulation under the form of a Score Adjustment Measure applying to a tender or exclusion of a tender from the Union's procurement or concessions market;
Amendment 104 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point f b (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point f b (new)
(fb) ‘score adjustment measure’ means the relative diminution by a given percentage of the score of a tender resulting from its evaluation by a contracting authority or a contracting entity on the basis of the specified award criteria in the procurement notice; for cases where contracting authorities base the award of public contracts on the “most economically advantageous tender” approach, the score adjustment means applying a price penalty taking into consideration quality criteria, including environmental and/or social aspects, based on their relative weighting;
Amendment 105 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Tenders shall be exempted from this Regulation where more than 50% of the total value of the tender is made up of goods and/or services originating in least- developed countries listed in Annex IV to Regulation (EU) No 978/201227 , and in developing countries considered to be vulnerable due to a lack of diversification and insufficient integration within the international trading system as defined in Annex VII to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012. _________________ 27Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences and repealing Councilcountries benefitting from the Generalised Scheme of Preferences in accordance with Regulation (ECU) No 732/2008 (OJ L 303, 31.10.2012, p. 1)978/2012.
Amendment 112 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. In its investigation into alleged restrictive and/or discriminatory procurement measures or practices, the Commission shall also determine whether the third country concerned has major shortcomings in implementing obligations stemming from international conventions in the field of environmental, social and labour law and listed in Annex X of Directive 2014/23/EU, Annex X of Directive 2014/24/EU and Annex XIV of Directive 2014/25/EU with the view of enforcing the application of those Directives, as well as with commitments undertaken under the Paris Climate Agreement.
Amendment 143 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9
Article 9
Authorities or entities concerned The Commission shall determine the contracting authorities or entities or categories of contracting authorities or entities, listed by Member State, whose procurement is concerned by the measure. To provide the basis for this determination, each Member State shall submit a list of appropriate contracting authorities or entities or categories of contracting authorities or entities. The Commission shall ensure that an appropriate level of action is taken and that a fair distribution of the burden among Member States is achieved.rticle 9 deleted
Amendment 154 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11
Article 11
Amendment 162 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Contracting authorities and contracting entities may decide not to apply the price adjustmentIPI measure with respect to a procurement or a concession procedure if:
Amendment 166 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point b
Amendment 172 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(ba) the economic operator offers goods or services which are aligned with the criteria set out in Regulation (EU) 2020/852.
Amendment 186 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17
Article 17
Amendment of Directive 2014/25/EU Articles 85 and 86 of Directive 2014/25/EU shall be deleted with effect from the entry into force of this Regulation.rticle 17 deleted