Public procurement expert visits Malta

Thanks to the assistance and support of the British High Commission, the FOI through its MBB EU Help desk, organised a visit to Malta of Dr John Chave, an expert on public procurement and public private partnerships within the EU.

During his visit to Malta, Dr Chave held one-to-one meetings with various FOI members and GRTU officials. However, the highlight of Dr Chave's stay was the information seminar, chaired by EU Help desk co-ordinator Simon Barberi and organised for members, to which he was the guest speaker.

Dr Chave's presentation entitled "What do EU rules on public procurement offer Maltese business?" discussed, among other aspects, the policy objectives, underlying principles, thresholds, procedures and weaknesses of EU public procurement rules.

Dr Chave also explained the remedies available and the problems faced by SMEs. He also dwelt on the ever-increasing utilisation of e-procurement due to the reduced time periods, particularly when it came to reverse auctions and low value supplies.

Following the presentation, ample time was allotted to questions from the floor. These included issues relating to the remedies available; the importance of requesting for debriefs; framework possibilities; statistics on cross border public procurement; opening of participating bids; various flaws of the EU rules; and circulation of OJEC notices.