Last week, the signatories of the Luxembourg Declaration on Public Procurement – the European Federation of Engineering Consultancy Associations (EFCA), the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE), the European Council of Engineers Chambers (ECEC) and the Ordre des Architectes et des Ingénieurs-Conseils (OAI) – met in Brussels with Ms. Valentina Schaumburger, the public procurement expert from the Cabinet of Mr. Stéphane Séjourné, the European Commission (EC)s Executive VP for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, and with Ms. Lucia Martinez Lorenzo, Policy Officer in DG GROW.
The meeting focused on promoting the main points of the Luxembourg Declaration, which are vital for both European architects and engineers, as well as on discussing the next steps of the EC for the proposal to update the EU public procurement framework. During the meeting, EFCA highlighted the fact that both the engineering and architectural sectors are overwhelmingly made up of SMEs, and that the update of the EU public procurement rules must ensure easier access to markets and tenders for them, especially across EU borders. Another important point mentioned concerned the extension of the current three-year reference period in contracts for the intellectual services provided by engineers, which is shorter when compared to the reference periods in the case of other stakeholders. The need to boost the use of the "most economically advantageous tender" principle (MEAT) and the use of the two-envelope system were also underlined during the discussion by OAI.
EFCA and its partners were glad to observe that the EC shows a clear interest in our proposals, and is open to continuing the dialogue on this crucial matter. We look forward to enhancing this collaboration and contributing with the knowledge and skills of Europe’s engineering consultancies to the EU policy-making process, ensuring the best possible outcomes.
EFCA was represented at this meeting by our Policy Manager, Mr. Mihai Barcanescu (first on the right), while our member OAI was represented by its Director, Mr. Pierre Hurt (second on the right).