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Dec. 16, 2021
Brussels, 16 December 2021 – AEGIS Europe applauds the official start of the trilogue negotiations on the International Procurement Instrument (IPI) today, following the agreement by the European Parliament on a final position in plenary on 14 December.
Considering increasing public procurement-related barriers worldwide, AEGIS Europe calls on the institutions to swiftly adopt an assertive and effective instrument that will enable a uniform application across Europe while avoiding circumvention.
AEGIS Europe welcomes the position of the Parliament, mirroring that of the Council, on the fact that the Commission can decide, after unsuccessful negotiations with a third country to open its procurement market, to impose a score adjustment measure on tenders and/or to exclude tenders submitted by economic operators originating in that third country.
The European industry alliance also welcomes that the Parliament agreed that there should be only two instances when contracting authorities can opt out from IPI measures, and under certain conditions, namely when (i) there are only tenders from companies originating in a third country subject to an IPI measure; and (ii) in cases where the public interest overrides IPI considerations, such as in areas of public health or environmental protection. Furthermore, the Alliance supports strengthening reporting provisions and a stronger supervision role for the Commission vis-à-vis exceptions.
“AEGIS Europe is firmly convinced that the IPI could be a critical tool in ensuring a level-playing field in international public procurement for European businesses, complementing existing or future EU instruments. However, this tool will only be useful in practice if exceptions do not water down its provisions. We therefore call on the institutions to adopt an instrument ensuring that European bidders have the same access to public procurement markets in third countries as third country bidders have in the EU,” concluded Inès Van Lierde, Chair of AEGIS Europ