This seminar is designed to review and explain the forthcoming changes that will impact on public bodies following the adoption of the new Public Procurement Remedies Directive this autumn.
Clear and effective procedures for seeking redress – where bidders consider contracts have been unfairly awarded – is crucial to making sure contracts are awarded to the company which has made the best offer.
In turn this helps to build confidence among businesses and the public that tendering procedures are fair.
EU law on public procurement is specifically designed to increase competition and transparency, in order to create opportunities for all EU businesses, deliver better value and provide higher quality services.
The new Public Procurement Remedies Directive 2007/66/EC also requires public authorities to wait a certain number of days, known as the 'standstill period', before concluding a public contract.
The ‘standstill period’ is designed to provide unsuccessful bidders with the opportunity to start an effective review procedure at a time when unfair decisions can still be corrected.
However, if this standstill period has not been respected, the new Directive requires national courts under certain conditions to set aside a signed contract, by rendering the contract ‘ineffective’.
The Directive also seeks to combat illegal direct awards of public contracts, which is the most serious infringement of EU procurement law.
National courts will also be able to render these contracts ineffective if they have been illegally awarded without any transparency and prior competitive tendering.
It is now more important than ever to ensure your organisation understands the dangers of getting it wrong and this seminar will include examples of the penalties others have encountered
Who should attend?
- Heads of Procurement
- Procurement Personnel
- Legal Personnel
- Evaluators
- Specification Writers
- Stakeholders
