Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-06-30-Speech-1-078"
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"en.20030630.10.1-078"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, what we are dealing with here in these procurement directives is very definitely a multi-faceted problem. In the brief time available to me, I would like to consider two aspects of it.
My first point is that we must fix the threshold values at the level that Parliament wanted at first reading stage. Having them even higher would have been desirable, as experience shows that Europe-wide tendering brings with it a lot of bureaucracy and higher costs that bear no relation to the relatively few offers that are put in. What I particularly want is for the costs and administrative burdens that international tendering entails to be kept down for public contracting authorities, primarily in local government. It was regrettable that, at first reading, we managed an increase only from EUR 5 million to EUR 7 million, for example in building contracts, and the governments in the Council now want to reduce this at second reading. Our second reading amendments in the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market held out for at least these EUR 7 million. I very much regret the fact that the demand for a higher – and actually reasonable – threshold value than EUR 7 million is unlikely to be possible in the final reading of the Procurement Directive.
What is every bit as important to me as playing for millions with the threshold value in the directive on European procurement is the protection of small and medium-sized enterprises from unfair competition. Our self-employed, who abide by the law, must not have life made difficult for them by competitors who keep neither to collective wage agreements nor within the current labour law or health and safety provisions, and who do not give a fig for protecting the environment.
In so doing, we would be attaching a high value to local self-government, and rightly so, for it is clear that local authorities are the political level closest to the public.
Mr Bolkestein, you were right to say that taxpayers’ money must be spent in the best way possible. I agree with you on that. However, that does not necessarily mean the cheapest on offer. ‘Best possible’ carries connotations of quality and sustainability, in other words, due regard for social, environmental and other issues."@en1
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