In the Commissions view, the current legislation allow for flexibility in addressing preparedness and national security in procurement procedures both above and below the EEA thresholds. However, updated guidance is needed for integrating security and preparedness into specific procurements where these considerations are relevant. The Commission has proposed that security and preparedness considerations should be included in two provisions in the new procurement acts, proposed by the Commision. The provisions are not grounds for specific obligations on contracting authorities but will serve as a clarification and a reminder of the flexibility already inherent in the legislation. Local and regional suppliers are often categorized as small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s). The EU legislator has included statements and some provision in the directives in order to facilitate SME participation in public procurement procedures. The Commission has reviewed and explained in what way contracting authorities can design the competition in order to facilitate and encourage SME participation. There are several legislative or ongoing processes that discuss transparency with regards to ownership and tax. These regulatory efforts aim to establish a shareholder registry and a beneficial owner registry. The Commission propose that all contracting authorities should be granted access to the registry of beneficial ownership and also points out the benefits of these registers in procurement matters. Although there is a legitimate concern to prevent public contracts to be awarded to companies evading taxation through aggressive or illegal tax planning, this report show that public country-by-country reporting is neither a cost-effective measure, nor will it achieve the intended purpose, if used in public procurement proceedings. In addition to this, such measures are not coherent with the EU-directives due to an insufficient link to the subject matter of a contract. Furthermore, the Commission underlines that tax evasion is a global problem that also requires solutions on an international level. When it comes to the geographical scope of the procurement legislation, the Commission set forth a proposal to codify the EEA legal approach following the EFTA Court’s case law in the new procurement acts. Hence, the procurement acts apply to public contracts that are wholly or partially fulfilled outside the geographical area of the EEA, provided that the procurement clearly is of interest to suppliers established in Norway or other EEA countries. The Commission further propose to continue the special provision that the procurement legislation do not apply to Svalbard, unless otherwise decided by the Ministry through a regulation. The directives on Utilities and Concession Contracts includes additional provisions that define the geographical scope, and these are proposed to be continued in these new procurement acts.
Forarbeid