Ferk, Petra --- "E-procurement between EU objectives and the implementation procedures in the Member States – Article 22(1) of the 2014 Directive" [2016] ELECD 1391; in Ølykke, S. Grith; Sanchez-Graells, Albert (eds), "Reformation or Deformation of the EU Public Procurement Rules" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016) 101

Book Title: Reformation or Deformation of the EU Public Procurement Rules

Editor(s): Ølykke, S. Grith; Sanchez-Graells, Albert

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781785361807

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: E-procurement between EU objectives and the implementation procedures in the Member States – Article 22(1) of the 2014 Directive

Author(s): Ferk, Petra

Number of pages: 24

Abstract/Description:

In its 2011 Proposal, the Commission aimed to make e-procurement the rule rather than the exception. The Parliament and the Council expressed support for such an approach. Nevertheless, e-procurement was one of the key issues of the negotiations, which focused mainly on the important technical challenges that would need to be addressed, on the degree of interoperability that would need to be ensured, and on the transposition deadline for e-procurement. In the end, Article 22 of the 2014 Directive introduced e-procurement rules and made the use of e-procurement progressively mandatory, with rather strict transposition and transitional provisions foreseen in Article 90 of the 2014 Directive. In one way or another, one-quarter of the rules and options included in the 2014 Directive are linked with e-procurement issues. There is a risk that overly complex e-procurement system(s) could end up effectively protecting local providers or certain groups of providers. Should this be the case, the CJEU would have a key role to play in ensuring e-procurement systems comply with the general principles of EU law and EU public procurement law, and especially with a newly established principle of e-procurement, i.e. the principle of ‘interoperability’.