The New European Rules on Concessions: What Will They Mean in Practice? - Montesquieu Instituut

Target group

The seminar will be of particular interest to those planning to award, or currently involved in awarding, contracts which are defined as concessions in EU law or may be capable of being defined as concessions. These include policy makers in EU Member States, public officials from Contracting Authorities, private sector service providers and legal and other professional advisers in EU Member States, candidate countries and beyond. It should also be of interest to academics and to officials in European institutions and organisations.

Description

Are you currently responsible for launching or planning to launch an award procedure for a concession? Are you sure that the procedure followed complies with EU law and will provide value for money in difficult times for the public finances? What does the European Commission and national governments think needs to be done about concessions? Will their ideas work in practice? Could the Competitive Dialogue award procedure be a solution to your problems? The European Commission has now launched a new legislative initiative which sets out new rules for the award of concessions in EU law. These rules - long anticipated - aim to provide greater legal clarity and certainty about the rules governing award of concessions contracts.

Method

EIPA’s new seminar will explain the new rules and what they mean for Contracting Authorities awarding concessions for the delivery of public services and to assess how and to what extent they address current issues in awarding such concessions. At the end of the seminar you will go away with a better understanding of the rules for the award of concessions proposed in the new legislative initiative and how to apply them in practice.

Objectives

The seminar will address legal, economic, financial and operational considerations and the aim will be to use experience to date as a means of:

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  Developing a common assessment of the risks, challenges and opportunities arising from the current use of concessions as a means of delivering public services
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  Exploring solutions which enable Contracting Authorities to award concessions in a way which meets both the need to secure value for money and to comply with EU law.

It will draw together experience of different countries and stakeholders in the European arena.

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