European Neighbourhood Policy
and SIGMA’s role in public
procurement reform
Daniel Ivarsson & Olivier Moreau, OECD/SIGMA
Marrakesh, 23 April 2013
Presentation outline
European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and its
challenges
EU’s best practice for public procurement
EU programmes for supporting reform
SIGMA and its role; approach to reform
SIGMA’s work in public procurement in the region
ENP objectives
• To promote a stable and prosperous
environment in the EU immediate
neighourhood
• To address the wish of EU’s neighbouring
countries to deepen relations with the EU
• To create an area of common values and
interests
SOME ENP CHALLENGES
• Integrate neighbours into the EU Internal Market,
spreading its benefits
• Respond flexibly to country specific needs,
recognising they are quite varied
• Retain and develop intra-regional coop.
• Give tangible results to past efforts
• Manage the limited financial and other resources
available for supporting reform
• EU already open – reciprocity expected
DEEP AND COMPREHENSIVE FREE TRADE
AGREEMENTS (DCFTAS)
• Covering all essential sectors as well as fundamental
horizontal policies such as
 Public procurement
 IPR
 Competition
 Etc.
• Including a mechanism for regulatory convergence. If
sucessful, could lead to
 Further market opening in priority sectors
 At the end, to full market access in certain sectors
Role of public procurement
• Essential for the EU Internal Market: a key
means to achieve value for money and to
create and develop business opportunities
• Combination of regulatory framework and
practical tools for good governance
• Crucial element of public financial management
• Channel for administrative capacity building
Governing principles in the EU Treaties
and Directives
•
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Free movement of goods
Right of establishment
Freedom to provide services
Proportionality
Mutual recognition
Equality
Non-discrimination
Transparency
Main points of coordination for regulatory
reform
• Definitions
• Scope (thresholds; calculation of the value;
exclusions)
• Technical specifications; variants
• Procedures
• Advertising/Transparency/Communication
• Conduct of the procedure (suitability, qualitative
selection)
• Award of the contract
Also need for preparation, follow-up!
EU programmes for supporting
reform
• SIGMA
• TAIEX
• Twinning
WHAT IS SIGMA?
 Support for Improvement in Governance and
Management
 joint EU/OECD initiative, with EU financing
 founded in 1992
 to assist beneficiary countries
• EU candidate countries
• EU potential candidates
• EU Neighbourhood countries (since 2008)
in promoting and strengthening public governance
 Staff: subject specialists, different nationalities with
direct experience of public administration
SIGMA’s areas of work
 Policy-making and Coordination, Regulatory Management
 Civil Service and Administrative Law
 Public Finance, including:
• Budgeting,
• Financial Management and Control
• Internal audit
• External audit
 Public Procurement
 Strategy Development, Change Management and
Implementation
SIGMA’s counterparts
SIGMA’s usual counterparts are:
 General Secretariats / Government Offices
 Ministries of Public Administration
 Ministries of Finance
 Other ministries (e.g. Justice)
 Supreme Audit Institutions
 Public Procurement bodies
 Parliaments
• including Budget and Finance Committees
How does SIGMA work?
Basis: long term partnership with our counterparts in
the countries
• Short term interventions, e.g.:
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Support in preparing strategies and reform plans
Advice in planning larger technical assistance projects
Awareness raising events
Advising and training senior and middle level officials
Peer reviews of specific systems or organisations
• In accession countries, annual assessments on public
governance systems for the EU
• Policy papers, studies in public governance
principally financed by the EU
A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union,
The holistic
approach:
Which policy options?
Which organisation / coordination?
Which regulations and procedures?
Service to
be delivered
Which staff, skills and competences? Which HR
management?
Which financial resources and management?
Which delivery mechanisms and partnerships?
Which information and
communication?
Which review and control systems?
© OECD
Regional Focus – EU Neighbours
•
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Increased emphasis to supporting European Neighbourhood
countries
East
Eastern Partnership - Public Administration Reform Panel,
PEMPAL
South
Fundamental changes in the countries
Synergies with OECD/MENA programme
Supporting political dialogue and policy discussions with practical assistance
Bringing in reform experiences of transition countries from other regions
SIGMA in public procurement:
some current examples
•
In Lebanon, support to the Office of the Minister of State for Administrative
Reform (OMSAR) in
 ToRs, tender planning, criteria selection for a EU TA project for modernisation of PP
 Review of the PP development programme
•
In Azerbaijan,
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Review a “Standard Operating Procedures” manual for contracting authorities
Various workshops
Proposed Draft amendements for the PPL towards harmonisation with EU law
Analysed the e-procurement architecture / standards & possible developments
In Georgia
 Conducted a peer review
 Benchmarking of national system for e-procurement, concessions, utilities…
SIGMA in public procurement:
upcoming activities (tbc)
•
In Morocco,
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In Lebanon,
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New draft PP decree at the point of adoption; need for implementation support
Strong demand for advice on PPPs/concessions; need for harmonisation with general PP
regulations
Remedies system being revised; need for advice
Knowledgeable central institutions, little cross-institution contact, strong interest in learning from
best practice abroad
To assess where does the PP law meet international standards
To benchmark experience on thresholds
How using procurement for other policy objectives
How drafting a code of conduct for stakeholders
Beginning of 2014: ENP Public Procurement Regional Conference to be coorganised with a country tbd
SIGMA in public procurement:
looking ahead
In Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia:
• what is needed?
• what other initiatives are around?
• how could SIGMA usefully move ahead?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
daniel.ivarsson@oecd.org
olivier.moreau@oecd.org