CoESS welcomes planned revision of the EU Public Procurement Directive
CoESS strongly welcomes the revision of the EU Public Procurement Directive 2014/24, as announced in the European Commission President’s 2024-2029 Political Guidelines. Private security provides an essential service to public contractors. Our members protect Critical Infrastructure and public spaces, incl. mass events, and assist first responders during emergencies. Quality-focused procurement in security services is crucial for public security, but the current Directive does not fully ensure this. The European security services industry therefore believes that it is right to revise Directive 2014/24.
From the view of the European security services industry, the current EU Public Procurement Directive 2014/24 hinders the implementation of EU strategic goals, because rules are too vague and do not provide public buyers with legal certainty and confidence to award quality. As per the most recent European Parliament Study on Public Procurement, most EU Member States award between 60% to 95% of public tenders based solely on the lowest cost. This “lowest-cost approach” undermines collective bargaining, quality jobs, sustainable business conduct, the adoption of critical technologies and security.
As outlined in a new position paper published today, the current Directive failed to promote the “Most Economically Advantageous Tender” principle and incentivises a race to the bottom in working conditions and, from the view of the security services industry, weakens public security and resilience of critical entities.
With its paper, CoESS aims to contribute to the revision of the EU Public Procurement Directive by building on the assessments of the EU Council Strategic Agenda 2024-2029, the Political Guidelines of Ursula von der Leyen 2024-2029, the European Parliament Study on Public Procurement, the European Labour Authority Report on Public Procurement, and the Letta and Draghi Reports. The paper presents proposals on how to simplify rules and provide legal certainty for buyers to (1) select only compliant bidders, (2) award quality in support of EU strategic goals, notably public security and resilience, (3) apply and enforce execution criteria, and (4) fairly adapt contracts to changes in Collective Agreements, labour and fiscal law, and high inflation rates. Effective enforcement of these rules can be supported by collaboration of public buyers with sectoral Social Partners.