Amendment of Public Procurement Law is upcoming

Ten post dostępny jest także w języku: polski

This week, the draft amendment to the Public Procurement Law will be discussed by the government. Earlier, the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers has approved the draft. According to the government, the effect of the changes in the law will be, among others, an increase in the number of companies participating in tenders. The author of the project is the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology (MPiT).

Public procurement market worth PLN 200bn

The Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology has informed that in the public procurement system it spent PLN 202bn in 2018 (in comparison with approximately PLN 163bn in 2017). This is 9.55% of Poland’s GDP (8.2% of Poland’s GDP in 2017).

Construction companies are strongly dependent on the public procurement market. According to the Report on the functioning of the public procurement system in 2017, the highest amount of public procurement in 2017 was spent on construction works (44%).

Public procurement system becoming less competitive

Minister Jadwiga Emilewicz announced that the public procurement system is becoming less competitive and the average number of bids submitted is 2.19. In 2017, on average, less than 2.5 companies took part in the tender procedure.

In addition, the Public Procurement Law, in force in 2004, has been amended many times. As a result, it has become unclear.

According to the MPiT, the new Public Procurement Law is to solve, among others, the low share of SME sector in the public procurement market, low competitiveness and falling interest of contractors. The public procurement control system, which is currently inefficient, will also be improved.

Increase in procurement efficiency

The main objective of the amendment is to increase the effectiveness of procurement, increase the competitiveness and attractiveness of the public procurement market.

The amendment envisages, among others:

• introduction of the principle of effectiveness (i.e. achieving the best ratio of expenditures incurred to effects achieved)
• introduction of a simplified procedure below the so-called EU thresholds and simplifications in other modes and competitions
• compulsory partial payments and advances in longer contracts
• introduction of a catalogue of prohibited clauses. This will ensure that the rights of contractors and contracting authorities are balanced.
• lower fees for complaints against the decision of the National Appeal Chamber, extension of the deadline for filing a complaint, designating a separate public procurement court
• establishment of a committee on control in public procurement.
• strengthen the role of the President of the Public Procurement Office in preparing and promoting good practices and document templates.