Procurement
EIC is grateful to the European Commission and the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) for having been given the opportunity to submit business feedback to the current revision and harmonisation process of the Procurement Guidelines. Whereas EIC understands the general rule of these insitutions, that it is the borrowers or recipient countries which are fully responsible for implementing projects financed by the Banks or by the European Union, in particular for all aspects of the procurement process as well as administration of the contracts themselves, we also believe that these public lenders – which are using the taxpayer’s money - should closely review this process and coach a contract towards a successful completion by means of the related Loan Agreement. As a minimum, they should insist on certain international minimum procurement standards.
In general, EIC holds the opinion that the traditional procurement process, as applied by the European Commission and the MDBs, has not evolved in line with the modern contract forms. Greater benefit would accrue to both both financiers and borrowers or recipient countries if more importance was placed on the prequalification and tendering stages of project implementation through a comprehensive but transparent procedure that results in the pre-qualification of only those contractors with the capacity to successfully complete the project. At tender stage, greater care needs to be taken when specifying the technical specification and/or employer’s requirements, and it should be standard practice to provide all available data to bidders. The more comprehensive the information the employer provides the better it will be for all concerned. This will permit tenderers to base their pricing on sound information and avoid mistakes and oversights which might ultimately be to the detriment of the project. read more...