“Public procurement plays a crucial role in the economic development of the European Union, the rules ensure public money is spent in the most efficient way“, sais Thomas Habermann(EPP/DE), President of the County of Rhön-Grabfeld and EPP-CoR rapporteur, whose draft opinion was adopted in the ECON Commission meeting on the 9th of July 2019.The draft opinion follows up the CoR’s commitment of the “Task force on subsidiarity, proportionality and doing less more efficiently” and the Better Regulation agenda, to provide feedback on the implementation of EU legislation at local and regional level.There is a need to clarify the circumstances in which local and regional authorities are permitted to promote local economic growth and local structures in the interests of sustainability and positive environmental impact, by using short supply chains in line with the “buy local” principle.The resulting administrative burden for local and regional authorities must be proportional to the benefits that public procurement can bring for the public. Public procurement is not primarily intended to achieve policy goals regarding, for example, environmental sustainability, social inclusion or innovation, or to further specific socio-political development. However, it is increasingly being used as a vehicle for steering and achieving other policy goals. It is nonetheless important not to lose sight of the aim and purpose of public procurement: determining the best price-quality ratio in line with the principles of sound financial management and efficiency of the public administration.
Adoption timetable:
first discussion and adoption in ECON on 9 July 2019
final adoption in the Plenary Session on 7-9 October 2019.
