This is an interesting read because it shapes national policy. How much we remain aligned to EU regulations after Brexit remains unknown but some of the policy ideas generated by the EU help to raise the bar.
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
and in particular Article 292 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Public procurement is an instrument to achieve smart, sustainable and
inclusive growth. This instrument could have significant economic impact (1) in
contributing to the Commission’s agenda for growth, jobs and cross-border
trade. Efficient, effective and competitive public procurement is both a
touchstone for a well-functioning single market and a major channel for
European investments (2).
(2)
The directives on public procurement adopted in 2014 (3) provide
a toolbox enabling Member States to make more efficient and strategic use of
public procurement. Public procurement is facing new challenges as it is
increasingly expected to: demonstrate best value for public money in
ever-constricting budgetary environments; use the opportunities of
digitisation and evolving markets; make a strategic contribution to
horizontal policy objectives and societal values such as innovation, social
inclusion and economic and environmental sustainability; maximise
accessibility and show accountability for minimising inefficiencies, waste,
irregularities, fraud and corruption, as well as building responsible supply
chains.
(3)
The need to ensure the efficient application of public procurement
rules at all levels is necessary to make the best out of this essential lever
for European investment, as spelled out in the Investment Plan for Europe (4),
and to achieve a stronger single market called for in the 2017 State of the
Union address of President Juncker. Efficiency is also among the areas of
improvement in public procurement signalled through the European semester
process.
(4)
Therefore, the most efficient use of public funds needs to be ensured
and public buyers need to be in a position to procure according to the highest
standards of professionalism. Enhancing and supporting professionalism among
public procurement practitioners can help foster the impact of public
procurement in the whole economy (5).
(5)
The objective of the professionalisation of public procurement is
understood broadly to reflect the overall improvement of the whole range of
professional skills and competences, knowledge and experience of the people
conducting or participating in tasks related to procurement (6).
It covers also the tools and support as well as the institutional policy
architecture that are necessary to do the job effectively and deliver results (7).
Therefore, an effective professionalisation policy should be based on an
overall strategic approach along three complementary objectives:
I.
Developing
the appropriate policy architecture for professionalisation: to have a real
impact, any professionalisation policy should count on high level political
support. This means defining a clear assignment of responsibilities and
tasks to institutions at central policy level, supporting efforts at local,
regional and sectoral levels, ensuring continuation across political
cycles, using where appropriate, the institutional structures promoting specialisation,
aggregation and sharing of knowledge.
II.
Human
resources — improving training and career management of procurement
practitioners: public procurement practitioners, i.e. those involved in the
procurement of goods, services and works, as well as auditors and officials
responsible for the review of public procurement cases, must have the right
qualifications, training, skills and experience needed for their level of
responsibility. This means securing experienced, skilled and motivated staff,
offering the necessary training and continuous professional development, as
well as developing a career structure and incentives to make the public
procurement function attractive and to motivate public officers to deliver
on strategic outcomes.
III.
Systems
— providing tools and methodologies to support professional procurement
practice: public procurement practitioners must be equipped with the right
tools and support to act efficiently and get best value for money for each
purchase. This means ensuring the availability of tools and processes to
deliver smart procurement, such as: e-Procurement tools, guidelines,
manuals, templates and cooperation tools, with corresponding training,
support and expertise, aggregation of knowledge and exchange of good
practice.
(6)
This Recommendation (8) encourages
the development and implementation of professionalisation policies in the
Member States, by offering a reference framework for consideration (9).
The desired outcome of this initiative is to help Member States to build the
policy for professionalisation to increase the profile, influence, impact and
reputation of procurement in delivering public objectives.
(7)
This Recommendation is addressed to Member States and to their public
administration primarily at national level. However, under their centralised
or decentralised procurement system, Member States should further encourage
and support contracting authorities/entities in rolling out
professionalisation initiatives. Therefore, Member States should draw this
Recommendation to the attention of bodies responsible for public procurement
at all levels as well as of the bodies in charge of training the auditors and
officials responsible for the review of public procurement cases.
HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:
I. DEFINING
THE POLICY FOR THE PROFESSIONALISATION OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
1.
Member States should develop and implement long term
professionalisation strategies for public procurement, tailored to their
needs, resources and administrative structure, standalone or as part of wider
professionalisation policies of public administration. The aim is to attract,
develop and retain skills, focus on performance and strategic outcomes and
make the most out of the available tools and techniques. These strategies
should:
(a)
address
all the relevant participants in the procurement process and be developed
through an inclusive process at national, regional and local level;
(b)
be
applied in coordination with other policies across the whole public sector;
and
(c)
take
stock of developments in other Member States and at international level.
2.
Member States should also encourage and support contracting
authorities/entities in implementing the national professionalisation
strategies, developing professionalisation initiatives as well as appropriate
institutional architecture and cooperation for a more coordinated, efficient
and strategic procurement based on, among other things:
(a)
increased
cooperation between relevant services and between contracting
authorities/entities; and
(b)
the
expertise and support of training institutions, central purchasing bodies
and of procurement-oriented professional organisations.
II. HUMAN
RESOURCES — IMPROVING TRAINING AND CAREER MANAGEMENT
3.
Member States should identify and define the baseline of skills and
competences any public procurement practitioner should be trained in and
possess, taking into account the multidisciplinary nature of procurement
projects, both for dedicated procurement officials and for related functions
as well as for judges and auditors, such as:
(a)
frameworks
for skills and competences to support recruitment and career management
processes and in designing training curricula; and
(b)
a
common competence framework for public procurement at European level.
4.
Member States should develop appropriate training programmes — initial
and lifelong — based on data and needs assessment, as well as on competence
frameworks where available, such as:
(a)
developing
and/or supporting the development of the initial training offer, at
graduate and post-graduate level and other entry-level career training;
(b)
providing
and/or supporting a comprehensive, targeted and accessible offer of
lifelong training and learning;
(c)
multiplying
the training offer via innovative, interactive solutions or eLearning
tools, as well as replication schemes; and
(d)
drawing
benefits from academic cooperation and research to develop a sound
theoretical backing for procurement solutions.
5.
Member States should also develop and support the uptake by
contracting authorities/entities of sound human resources management, career
planning and motivational schemes specific to the procurement functions
aiming to attract and retain qualified staff to procurement and encouraging
practitioners to deliver better quality and a more strategic approach in
public procurement, such as:
(a)
recognition
and/or certification schemes which properly identify and reward procurement
functions;
(b)
career
structures, institutional incentives and political support to deliver
strategic outcomes; and
(c)
excellence
awards to promote good practice in areas such as innovation, green and
socially responsible public procurement or anti-corruption.
III. SYSTEMS
— PROVIDING TOOLS AND METHODOLOGIES
6.
Member States should encourage and support the development and uptake
of accessible IT tools which can simplify and improve the functioning of
procurement systems, such as:
(a)
enabling
access to information by creating single online portals;
(b)
developing
IT tools with corresponding training, (e.g. for economies of scale, energy
efficiency or team working), or supporting corresponding market driven
solutions; and
(c)
promoting
a strategic approach to digitalisation through standardisation, sharing,
reuse and interoperability of products and services particularly through
using existing IT solutions available at EU level (10), as well as contributing to developing
instruments such as an online catalogue of ICT standards for procurement (11).
7.
Member States should support and promote integrity, at individual and
institutional level, as an intrinsic part of professional conduct, by
providing tools to ensure compliance and transparency and guidance on
prevention of irregularities, such as:
(a)
establishing
codes of ethics as well as charters for integrity;
(b)
using
data on irregularities (12) as feedback to develop corresponding
trainings and guidance as well as to promote self-cleaning; and
(c)
developing
specific guidance to prevent and detect fraud and corruption, including
through whistleblowing channels.
8.
Member States should provide guidance aiming, on the one hand, to give
legal certainty on EU and national law or requirements stemming from the EU’s
international obligations and, on the other hand, to facilitate and promote
strategic thinking, commercial judgment and intelligent/informed decision
making, such as:
(a)
targeted
guidance materials, methodological handbooks and repositories of good
practices and most common errors, that are up-to-date, user-friendly,
easily accessible and grounded in the experience of practitioners; and
(b)
standardised
templates and tools for various procedures such as green public procurement
criteria.
9.
Member States should promote the exchange of good practice and provide
support for practitioners to ensure professional procurement procedures,
cooperative work and transmission of expertise such as:
(a)
providing
technical assistance by means of reactive helpdesks, hotlines and/or email
services;
(b)
organising
seminars and workshops to share new legal developments, policy priorities
and good practice; and
(c)
encouraging
communities of practitioners through online fora and professional social
networks.
