New digital tools put in place by the European Union Commission are “opening up the European public procurement market,” according to a statement made by the commission. In order to create “a more competitive landscape” for public spending, the Commission has implemented CEF eDelivery, a technology agnostic solution based on AS4. AS4 gateways make it possible to exchange tender information between the different eProcurement systems.
The implementation will, the Commission hopes, lead to “better quality and better prices for contracting authorities and taxpayers.”
Public authorities in the EU spend approximately €2 trillion per year on public procurement. This accounts to approximately 14% of the collective member states’ GDP, and almost 30% of government expenditure.
Over the last five years, there has been a “steady rise” in the level of procurement process digitalisation throughout Europe.
The goal of this sweeping digital transformation is that federal, regional, and local contracting authorities and businesses have access to multiple online procurement services. Not only this, but the new tools are making sure that procurement departments throughout Europe can manage the tendering process electronically.
These digitalisation efforts would, the commission hoped, deliver cost savings, shorten and simplify processes, reduce red tape and administrative burdens, increase innovation and provide new business opportunities for SMEs.
Public procurement in the EU remains fragmented
However, a recent study by the Commission found that despite the fact that public calls for tender from across Europe are aggregated into a single platform, direct cross-border procurement accounted for only 3.5% of the total value of contracts between 2009 and 2015.
“How can we explain such a low number? Well, if we take a closer look, there are a number of reasons including language, local regulation, knowledge of local markets but also we can see that the digitization of procurement has actually created new barriers for cross-border procurement,” wrote a spokesperson for the Commission in a statement. The Commission’s investigations uncovered a lack of interoperability between different member states’ procurement systems.
As a result, the implementation of CEF eDelivery has reportedly standardised the way eProcurement systems communicate. As a result, the Commission claims, this has “made life easier for both suppliers and contracting authorities who can now exchange information and messages throughout the procurement process while using their own systems.” The hope is that by creating better links between different countries’ back end systems, the EU Commission’s new tools will make public spending fairer and more competitive throughout the region.
