For SSE and overall, Directive 2014/24/EU establishes a broadly appropriate legal framework for public procurement across the broad range of economic sectors and across the EU. There are, however, at least three caveats/limitations to this general statement above which applies when looking at the main purposes and objectives of public procurement markets and procedures which are further explained in SSE's Reply to the EC Call for Evidence for the Evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives. There is, however, a serious shortcoming in practice: A “chilling effect” prevails, an avoidance to exploit the full potential of provisions supportive of socially responsible public procurement “on paper”, given the risk averseness of contracting authorities fearing mistakes, delays or recourses, and given the “control and assessment practice” by both supervisory bodies for local governments and/or by court of auditors.
Below you find a summary of SSE’s main proposals for the revision of the Public Procurement Directive 2014/24/EU:
1) Make the use of the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT)/Best Price Quality Ratio (BPQR) criteria the standard/default logic for public procurement, at least/in particular in economic sectors where staff costs make up for a big share of the total costs, such as in the sector of social services;
2) Social criteria should remain mandatory and not be seen as discriminatory against economic operators, provided accommodations are made to ensure/facilitate the access to public contracts for SME;
3) Promote SRPP in the area of social services as the “standard procedure” if and where national legislation prescribes the use of public procurement;
4) Elaborate (e.g.) an interpretative communication by the EC to underpin a full (legal) recognition of alternative models to public procurement – e.g., authorisation or licensing procedures, reserved markets, or user-led funding models such as personal budgets – which promote cooperation and a partnership culture between public authorities, social care providers, service users and other stakeholders;
5) Accessibility: Encourage the comprehensive use of the provisions of Directive 2014/24/EU in relation to the accessibility of products or services procured, building in particular on articles 42, 62, 67 and 76 and on recitals 99 and 101;
6) Better enforcement of rules on reserved contracts (Art. 20);
7) Include references to the social economy as part of future award criteria (Art. 67), in addition to the MEAT/BPQR criteria;
8) Extend Art. 70 (Contract performance clauses) in a way to facilitate their use to promote the inclusive labour markets, workplaces and jobs and the transition of persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged workers into the open/regular labour market
You can read the full SSE Response to the EC Consultation on the Evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives here.
You can have a look into SSE's reply to the EC Questionnaire here.