| Utrecht Centre for Public Procurement |
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| Tip: read this newsletter on your computer or online for the best view! |
This is the first collaborative newsletter of the Utrecht University Centre for Public Procurement (UUCePP) and the IOS Platform 'The Transactional State as an Institution for Good'. The newsletter contains an overview of research findings, teaching, and societal activities carried out by the Centre and the Platform in the field of procurement and purchasing.
Some of you previously received the bi-annual newsletter of the Chair of Public Procurement of Utrecht University. From now on, we will jointly prepare a newsletter with all activities that fall under UUCePP and the IOS Platform. In principle, this new newsletter will be sent out about four times a year. If you are no longer interested in receiving the newsletter, you can unsubscribe at any time via the button at the bottom of this newsletter.
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Debate "Open Economy v. Protecting Democracy in a Public Procurement context" |
On February 1, 2024, prof. mr. dr. Elisabetta Manunza organized the debate "Open Economy v. Protecting Democracy in a Public Procurement Context" together with Dr. mr. Nathan Meershoek and mr. Tom Huisjes. The debate was initiated by the IOS Platform ‘The Transctional State as an Institution for Good’ as part of the IOS Community Day ‘The future of Democracy’.
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Nevi-UUCePP conference sustainable and secure public procurement |
Prof. mr. dr. Elisabetta Manunza and prof. dr. ir. Fredo Schotanus presented during the Nevi-UUCePP conference on sustainable and secure public procurement. Amongst other things, they discussed the possibility of including more mandatory requirements in public procurement, smart copy-pasting, and adaptive rules. Besides, they argued that "we-them" thinking (purchasor-contractor) should be prevented, and highlighted the fragmentation of the current policy landscape, and the importance of sustainability.
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The Future of Sustainable Public Procurement: Legal Possibilities and Obligations |
This report contains the main findings of the discussions that took place in Utrecht last year on 26 October with over 150 procurement professionals. It focused on the trajectory from legal possibilities to obligations for sustainable public procurement in the European Union.
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Further, the event aimed to examine how this shift towards green and social obligations within public procurement law can be understood and interpreted, the impact of these obligations on Dutch procurement practices, and, finally, to find answers on how public procurement law can effectively operate in the future, especially in the context of the fight against climate change and growing social inequality. The event was led by prof. mr. dr. Willem Janssen and UUCePP PhD Candidate Tom Huisjes took part in the panel debate.
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Executive course public procurement |
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Kick-off spring edition executive course! |
Tuesday March 5 marked the kick-off of the Executive Course Public Procurement for Professionals (Spring 2024). Prof. mr. dr. Elisabetta Manunza introduced the professionals to the principles of public procurement law. The central question of the first session was: what is legality and how to interpret and apply legal sources?
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Political parties in the Netherlands: public procurement should be more sustainable and social, with central governance |
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Innovation-oriented procurement in the spotlights |
| Innovation-oriented public procurement has recently received more attention with the publication of the top 10 innovation friendly public purchasers (made in collaboration with PIANOo and TenderNed) and a presentation about innovation-friendly purchasing during the EU conference Innovation Procurement in Brussels. |
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Webinar diversity and inclusion |
Tom Huisjes, PhD at UUCePP, spoke about diversity and inclusion together with Caroline van Campen, Bureau Social Return of the Municipality of Amsterdam, Anike Wildervanck de Blécourt, coordinating director of Purchasing at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and Diederik Heij, advisor at PIANOo. This video is a summary of the Diversity Day webinar that was recorded in October 2023.
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General Security Requirements Public Contracts |
On January 17, 2024, prof. mr. dr. Elisabetta Manunza, Niels Wittenberg and dr. Nathan Meershoek, organized a panel (presentation and discussion) for 90 officials from the central government and the National Police in The Hague at the Ministry of the Interior on the occasion of the first information session on the ABRO (General Security Requirements Public Contracts) which will be introduced this year.
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Elisabetta Manunza was invited speaker at EDAMIC, the European Defence Acquisition Manager Intercultural Course (19 October 2023), to discuss “Different Perspectives and Approaches on Defence Public Procurement” by the Federal Academy of Education and Training in the Bundeswehr of the Federal ministry of Defence of Germany and the Material and IT Command (COMMIT) of the Dutch Ministry of Defence.
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Bestek podcast: new episodes! |
| 'Sustainable Public Procurement in the US and Publishing in the American Journals' (EN) and de 'Defensierichtlijn: de verkeerde grondslag?' (NL). You find the episodes here! |
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European defence cooperation |
The Dutch armed forces are increasingly cooperating with European (and non-European) allies. Supreme authority over the armed forces lies, however, still exclusively with the Dutch government according to the constitution and is an important part of state sovereignty. What are the constitutional limits of European defence cooperation and to what extent is a supranational defence competence for the European Union desirable? Dr. Nathan Meershoek recently published an article in Ars Aequi discussing these questions.
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European funds and green public procurement |
The European Commission attempts to stimulate green public procurement (GPP) through co-funding via the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF). The availability of funding from ESIF has a small but significant and positive effect on the uptake of GPP in Czechia. The effect on GPP is driven by financial incentives and not by ‘greener’ policy objectives.
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Identifying Politically Connected Firms: A Machine Learning Approach |
Firms in conflicts of interest are shown to cause large inefficiencies on the public procurement markets and elsewhere. In this article, we show that machine learning can be used to accurately find such firms, and thus, prevent these inefficiencies. The accuracy rates of detection were up to 85 percent.
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| How do you purchase art? And what are the hurdles for humanitarian organisations when it comes to public purchasing and fluctuating numbers of refugees? These questions were dealt with by two groups of students in an academic blog which they wrote for the course Public Procurement. You can access their contributions via the links above! |
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| Why is there no legal requirement in the Netherlands for transparency on government procurement below European procurement thresholds? In the Netherlands there is a lack of data at the central level with regards to the quantity, suppliers and amount of goods and services purchased under the European procurement thresholds. Several other member states deal with this in a much better way. |
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The future of digitalisation in budgetary control |
Dr. Vitezslav Titl co-authored a study for the European Parliament discussing the usage of new technologies for detecting misuse of public resources, corruption, and fraud.
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Public Purchasing Monitor (PIM) |
For the project PIM (Public Purchasing Monitor) TenderNed and Utrecht University analyze data from TenderNed. This recently published PIM-article discusses the increase in the number of questions which are being raised during procurement processes.
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As one of the biggest purchasers of the country, the central government has a big potential impact on society and the economy. According to prof. dr. ir. Fredo Schotanus, the government could make social impact by basing purchasing policy on inclusion and diversity. VNO-NCW (Forum) and Nevi (Deal!) recenly shed light on this issue.
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Public procurement law as an expression of the rule of law
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In this article prof. mr. dr. Elisabetta Manunza has developed the concept of constitutional effectiveness as a normative approach to evaluating the constitutionality of EU legislation and enforcement, which is derived from legal-empirical observations on how EU and national courts shape law across the different legal orders within which they operate.
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New book: Mandatory Sustainability Requirements in EU Public Procurement Law |
Under the editorship of UUCePP researcher prof. mr. dr. Willem Janssen and prof. Roberto Caranta (Universiteit van Turijn), a new book was published that provides the first comprehensive appraisal of the paradigm shift towards mandatory sustainability requirements in EU public procurement law. Based on legal analysis informed by economic perspectives, the book aims to contribute to an understanding and critical discussion of the EU legislator's move towards regulating 'what to buy'.
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New publication: EU Green Deal & Extraterritorial Effects |
Prof. mr. dr. Willem Janssen, along with Phd Candidate Ezgi Uyzal (Turin University), co-authored a chapter titled 'The EU Green Deal and Public Procurement Law: its Extraterritorial reach beyond the EU's borders'. This contribution discusses the implications of the EU Green Deal outside the European Union, addressing issues such as abnormally low tenders, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, and lifecycle considerations.
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Frans Pennings becomes emeritus professor |
On March 5, 2024, professor of social law Frans Pennings, also an associated researcher at UUCePP, said goodbye to Utrecht University with a speech titled: ‘The influence of the specific view of human beings within social security upon legislation and jurisprudence’. On this day in honor of Frans’ career, a symposium also took place with as its subject ‘Reorientation on labour and social security’. Frans Pennings became professor emeritus on March 10, 2024.
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Willem Janssen appointed as Endowed Professor of Public Procurement Law at the University of Groningen |
As of 1 September 2023, dr. Willem Janssen has been appointed Endowed Professor of Public Procurement Law at the University of Groningen’s Faculty of Law. The chair is established by the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Aanbestedingsrecht (Dutch Association for Public Procurement Law; NVvA) and is vested in the European and Economic Law Section (EER) of the Department of Business Law, European Law and Tax Law (BEB).
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Visiting researcher Leandra Diem |
Leandra Diem, a PhD researcher from the University of Lucern, has joined us at UUCePP from March until May in Utrecht. Her research is on the interplay between competition law and public procurement law in light of procedural safeguards in the Swiss legal context of exclusion grounds.
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| We welcome Gian Luigi Albano and Joras Ferwerda as new researchers and Elior Korem as new PhD-student! Find all (affiliated) UUCePP researchers here! |
| "Bringing insights from modern auction theory into the realm of 'procurement design'" |
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| "Money laundering and corruption in the field of public procurement" |
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| "Public procurement from an Israeli perspective and Fermat’s Last Theorem" |
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Reflection on the procurement of the renovation of the Van Brienenoord brug |
In the Algemeen Dagblad and the Financieele Dagblad we reflected on the issues surrounding the procurement of the Van Brienenoordbrug. One of the problems related to the fixed price for a complex and high-risk project. As researchers, we aim to place these news items in a broader context and assess potential causes and consequences.
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Dr. Nathan Meershoek was interviewed on the procurement process relating to the construction of new submarines for the Dutch navy, prof. mr. dr. Willem Janssen spoke with the Parool about the current discussion in Amsterdam about the so called Flexbrigade, and Willem Janssen reacted in PowNieuws on the situation of stand holders in Utrecht and the necessity to distribute permits in a public procedure.
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Once every four to six weeks, the IOS Platform the Transactional State organizes a Transactional Talk together with UUCePP. Every talk deep-dives into a highly relevant and pressing societal issue related to public procurement. The past months five researchers shared their findings during a Transactional Talk:
- Tom Huisjes, social procurement and the posting directive 2018/957
- Ruben Nicolas, sustainability and certificates
- Fredo Schotanus, sustainable procurement below the European thresholds
- Emilie Wojciezynski, the impact of lobbying on the legislative process in the EU
- Gian Luigi Albano, scoring auctions in the lab
The next Transactional Talk, featuring Joras Ferwerda, with the topic corruption in public procurement, is planned on April 15. You can find more information here. Registration via email to Tom Huisjes (t.s.huisjes@uu.nl). |
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- E. Manunza. 'Public procurement Law as an Expression of the Rule of Law: On How the Legislature and the Courts Create a Layered Dynamic Legal System Based on Legal Principles', Public Procurement Law Review 2023 32(5), 319-334.
- F. Schotanus, H.J. Siersema. Handreiking Beste prijs-kwaliteitverhouding: de basis, PIANOo, 2023.
- F. Schotanus, R. Wilson. AI-software en publieke inkoop: de mogelijkheden, risico’s en richtlijnen, Aanbestedingscafé, November 2023.F. Schotanus, On what basis to award public contracts, Demotrans Policy brief 16, 2024.
- N. Meershoek. ‘Dutch Defence Procurement in Times of War and Reinvestment’, Public Procurement Law Review 2023 (Special Issue on the war in Ukraine), 408-417.
- N. Meershoek. ‘ Constitutionele begrenzing van Europese defensiesamenwerking: over soevereiniteit, gezag en bevel’, Ars Aequi 2023, 858-865.
- R. Nicolas, V. Titl, F. Schotanus. 'European funds and green public procurement', Demotrans Policy brief 10, 2024.
- W. Janssen. 'De Toekomst van Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Aanbesteden: Juridische Mogelijkheden én Verplichtingen', Tijdschrift Aanbestedingsrecht en Staatssteun, nr. 1, 2024.
- W. Janssen. 'The European Green Deal and Public Procurement Law: Its Extraterritorial Reach beyond the EU’s Borders' (with Ezgi Uysal) in M. Campins, X. Fernández-Pons (eds), Deploying the European Green Deal: Protecting the Environment Beyond the EU Borders, Routledge 2024.
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The Utrecht Centre for Public Procurement shares the latest news, newest insights and relevant events related to public procurement about four times a year. Made for public procurement professionals by researchers. Did you receive this newsletter from a colleague? Subscribe here!
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