Service Case 3: Support for eProcurement Take-up

Public procurement procedures are an important aspect of a vibrant, competitive economy, but the regulatory burden on businesses participating in procurement bids in the European Union is quite high. For example (from Directive 2004/18/EC of 31/03/2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts):

• Article 46, concerning suitability to pursue the professional activity under bid, requires a bidder to provide proof of registration in his home business register;
• Article 47, concerning proof of financial standing, requires the bidder to furnish documentation such as bank statements and/or balance sheets.

Clearly, eProcurement holds out the hope to considerably simplify such procedures. In 2004 a Communication of the Commission to Council ("Action plan for the implementation of the legal framework for electronic public procurement") stated that "to generalise e-procurement, it is important that all steps are taken to reduce the regulatory burden. Standardising and restructuring business documents as well as more uniform tendering documents should help automating certain purchase routines and allow both sides to concentrate on the substance of the purchase. A typical example of red tape concerns the numerous certificates and business documents required. These are rarely available in electronic form. Additionally, they need to be usable and acceptable across borders".

The Communication focuses much of its recommendation squarely on the availability of standardised documentation in electronic form, recommending that "the Commission and Member States should analyse and compare results achieved in this area at the national level with a view to agreeing on a common set of electronic certificates, at least for some of those most frequently required. E-procurement would be an excellent test base for the development of such egovernment services".

eProcurement naturally brings up the question of certification of electronic documentation from the Business Registers. In that regard, the Amendment of the First Company Law Directive (Directive 2003/58/EC of 15/07/2003 amending the Council directive 68/151/EEC as regards disclosure requirements in respect of certain types of companies - to be implemented by January 2007), in allowing the procurer to request all of part of the required document in electronic form, requires that:

• electronic copies supplied shall not be certified copies unless the procurer explicitly requests such a certification;
• Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that certification of electronic copies guarantees both the authenticity of the origin and the integrity of the content, by means at least of an advanced electronic signature.

Advanced certification addresses the problem of authenticity, but it is not enough to ensure that data contained in the electronic document are understandable (language diversity), usable (or re-usable) and acceptable across borders. Research has to be carried out in a number of areas, such as:

• The definition of common certificate contents;
• The definition of an agreed standard;
• Aggregation of data, for example as required by Articles 46 and 47;
• Re-usability of data;
• Delivery tools.

Through the vehicle of this eGovernment service case, the BRITE project can address this issue in a coordinated way in order to have, from the very beginning, a coordinated approach at EU level.

Related deliverables:

• D2.4.1 eProcurement take-up service specification
• D2.4.2 eProcurement take-up service design
• D2.4.4 eProcurement prototype

Related documents:

• Directive 2003/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2003 amending Council Directive 68/151/EEC, as regards disclosure requirements in respect of certain types of companies
• Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts

This Service Case will initially be implemented in Italy, Spain, Sweden.

Lead Partner: InfoCamere.

Contact: Mr. Piero Milani