Links I Liked [Public Procurement]
1. Are urban developments subject to procurement rules (or at least principles)?
Good case report by Paul Henty. I remember vividly a discussion back in 2007/8 with my then Ph.D supervisor about how come development contracts are not considered relevant for the internal market and as such subject to EU rules? My overarching point is that procurement rules should cover not only the buying strictu sensu but also contracts where money flows the other way around. I posed the same question in 2005 or 2006 to the team then drafting the Portuguese Public Contracts Code (which regulates procurement above and beyond EU requirements) about similar land deals after witnessing first hand some trainwreck examples of horrible practice.
Again, I remember another discussion (this time in 2009) sponsored by the Commission where PPPs were being bandied around as the best thing since sliced bread. Being a killjoy I argued that they have significant issues such as information asymmetry, regulator capture and the like, problems we saw in Portugal. One of the respondents happened to be the head of the PPP observatory in France who remarked drily that "the Portuguese have no idea how to run PPPs." Oh, well...
3. Should we have Procurement Ombudsmen in Europe like Canada does?
I think so, and have defended it since 2012. In some countries (UK, Ireland) there are not enough legal challenges in procurement, whereas in others (Portugal, Spain), whole court systems have ground to an halt due to an avalanche of procurement related cases.
4. How good (and EU compliant) is the Slovakian procurement law?
Not much it appears, but I will reserve passing judgement until I talk with some local colleagues.