Public procurement: “What’s next in 2018?”
The Belgian State has just published a general memorandum of policies explaining the areas on which attention will be focused with regard to public procurement, the main points of which are as follows:
Now that transposition of the directives concerning Public Procurement has been completed, the necessary attention will be given to implementation of the provisions on governance provided for in the laws of 17 June 2016. These are new obligations in terms of reporting (every three years) to the European Commission, with the first report expected in spring 2018.
The government furthermore intends to ensure that the necessary evaluations are carried out on public procurement legislation: an evaluation of the Royal Decree of 14 January 2013 establishing the general rules of implementation will be carried out in mid-2018.
The following year, there will be an evaluation of the technique used in the method of calculating the average when evaluating unusual prices. These evaluations will be carried out through extensive consultations with the relevant stakeholders within the Public Procurement Commission.
Lastly, a draft law transposing Directive 2014/55/EC will be drawn up with regard to electronic invoicing in the context of public procurement. The digitisation of invoices corresponds to the desire to modernise public management. The technical standard has just been adopted by the European Union and the process should allow for the simplification of administrative expenses, operational savings and an impact on the environment.
Associated areas of specialisation: Public procurement and PPP