Policy Framework
Ongoing EU Commission work related to PCP
Provisions further facilitating PCP in ongoing revision of the public procurement directives
End of 2011 the Commission adopted a proposal for modernising the public procurement directives: the proposed COM(2011)896 and COM(2011)895 aim at replacing the current public procurement directives COM(2004)18 for government authorities and COM(2004)17 for utilities respectively. The article 16(f) and article 24(e) exemptions for R&D services in the current directives COM(2004)18 and COM(2004)17 respectively, which currently form the legal basis for pre-commercial procurement, are maintained in the proposed revision of the procurement directives. They can be found under article 13 in COM(2011)896 for government authorities and article 25 in COM(2011)895 for utilities respectively. Public procurers can therefore continue to undertake pre-commercial procurements both under the current procurement rules, under the future new procurement rules and also in the transition phase from the current to the new procurement rules. Pre-commercial procurement can also be applied in the defence sector as the same exemption for R&D services is also available in article 13(f)(j) of the defence procurement directive COM(2009)81 which was already revised in 2009.
The proposed revision of the directives also contains new provisions to facilitate joint procurements between contracting authorities from different Member States. Where it is currently up to participating contracting authorities to define themselves the legal setting applicable to joint cross-border procurements on a case by case basis, Articles 38 of COM(2011)896 and articles 52 of COM(2011)895 intend to provide for a common legal basis for all joint cross-border procurements agreed across all Member States. This should facilitate in the future further the establishment of joint cross-border pre-commercial procurements, like the first cross-border PCP projects co-financed by the EU that are currently starting.
Commission proposes continued EU support for PCP in its' Horizon 2020 proposal for the new EU framework for research and innovation
End of November 2011 the Commission proposed "Horizon 2020", the new framework programme for EU support to research and innovation for 2014-2021. In the Horizon 2020 proposal pre-commercial procurement is officially introduced as a new funding instrument that can be used across all areas of research and innovation supported by the Commission. The proposal foresees both the possibility for the EU to financially support pre-commercial procurements undertaken by groups of contracting authorities from different Member States, as well as the possibility for the EU or EU funding bodies to participate themselves in pre-commercial procurements undertaken together with contracting authorities from Member States.
Study on quantifying public procurement of research and development of ICT solutions in Europe
Early 2012 the Commission DG INFSO services intend to launch a new study on quantifying public procurement of research and development of ICT solutions in Europe. The purpose of this study is to undertake a first large scale data gathering exercise on the total amount of ICT related R&D procurements, focusing in particular also in those procurements which are not published EU wide and are undertaken across the 27 Member States as well as at least 2 countries associated to the EU's R&I programmes. The study will analyse the amounts of ICT procurement and R&D procurement to quantify the intensity of public procurement of R&D on ICT solutions that is taking place across different levels (national, regional, local) and areas of public sector activity (health, transport, energy, education, environment, etc). Based on this experience the study aims to develop a methodology and provide guidelines for integrating such an exercise into the official yearly statistics, scoreboards and benchmarking exercises relating to R&D expenditure across Europe in comparison with the rest of the world. Contract notice and tender specifications of the call for tender in TED (2011/S/124-204971).
Public authorities and public purchasers in Member States that have or are developing experience in undertaking a similar exercise at national, regional or local level and are interested to be involved in this exercise and share experiences, are invited to get into Contact.
Survey on the status of implementation of PCP across Europe
During 2010 the EU Commission undertook a survey on the status of implementation of PCP across EU Member States (questions asked) through the Member States' representatives in DG MARKT's ACPC (Advisory Committee on Procurement Contracts). 21 Member States and 2 Associated States returned the completed survey, 3 Member States only provided partial answers and 3 did not send in any reply. The survey was finalised by the April 2011 PCP event. The results of the survey can be found here.
The survey aims to facilitate sharing of experiences on PCP between different countries around Europe, to spot possible difficulties encountered in the implementation of PCP projects at national level, and to identify further steps that could be taken to facilitate wider implementation of PCP across Europe.
Commission proposes €10 Bilion per year on PCP and procurement of innovative products and services
The recently acopted EU Commission Communication COM (2010) 546 final on the "Europe 2020 Flagship: Innovation Union" proposes initiatives to strengthen Public Procurement as a driver for Innovation in Europe, notably through action nr 17: "Member States and regions should set aside dedicated budgets for pre-commercial procurement and public procurement of innovative products and services (including those defined by the Innovation Partnerships, see Section 5). This should create procurement markets across the EU starting from at least €10 Billion a year for innovations that improve the efficiency and quality of public services, while addressing the major societal challenges. The aim should be to achieve innovative procurement markets equivalent to those in the US. The EU Commission will provide guidance and set up a (financial) support mechanism to help contracting authorities to implement these procurements in a non-discriminatory and open manner, to pool demand, to draw up common specifications, and to promote SME access. In addition the EU Commission will offer guidance on implementing joint procurements between contracting entities under the current public procurement directives and use the ongoing general evaluation of the current directives to examine the opportunity to introduce additional rules to make cross border joint procurements easier.
Opinions of other EU institutions on PCP
European Council
26 May 2010: the European Council adopts the 3016th Competitiveness Council Conclusions on creating an innovative Europe.
Section II.1 contains conclusions on pre-commercial procurement.
29-30 May 2008: the European Council adopts the 2871th Competitiveness Council Conclusions (177KB)
Section 2.3 contains the conclusions on pre-commercial procurement.
European Parliament
3 February 2009: the European Parliament adopts a resolution on pre-commercial procurement.
Text of the speeches by MEP Malcolm Harbour and Commissioner Reding in the 3 Feb EP plenary
Video of the speeches by MEP Malcolm Harbour and Commissioner Reding in the 3 Feb EP plenary
Text of the EP resolution on pre-commercial procurement
EU Commission comment on the EP resolution on pre-commercial procurement:
In order to avoid potential misunderstandings that may arise from point 27 of the resolution, the Commission wishes to clarify that the scope of pre-commercial procurement does not include actual commercial roll-out. Quoting from COM/2007/799: " This Communication addresses the concept of "pre-commercial procurement" which concerns the Research and Development (R&D) phase before commercialisation… . More specifically in pre-commercial procurement : (1) The scope is R&D services only: R&D can cover activities such as solution exploration and design, prototyping, up to the original development of a limited volume of first products or services in the form of a test series. "Original development of a first product or service may include limited production or supply in order to incorporate the results of field testing and to demonstrate that the product or service is suitable for production or supply in quantity to acceptable quality standards"7. R&D does not include commercial development activities such as quantity production, supply to establish commercial viability or to recover R&D costs, integration, customisation, incremental adaptations and improvements to existing products or processes…. "
Opinions of other organisations and associations on PCP
Statement of UEAPME (178KB)
Joint Statement SME Union-CompTIA (25KB)
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