COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS A strategy for e-procurement
Date: 2012-04-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: access to EU information, administrative formalities, award of contract, electronic document management, electronic government, information technology applications, invitation to tender

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 20.4.2012  
COM(2012) 179 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

A strategy for e-procurement 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

A strategy for e-procurement 

1. 

INTRODUCTION  

This  Communication  presents  the  strategic  importance  of  electronic  procurement  (e-
procurement)1 and sets out the main actions through which the Commission intends to support 
the transition towards full e-procurement in the EU. 

E-procurement  can  significantly  simplify  the  way  procurement  is  conducted,  reduce  waste 
and  deliver  better  procurement  outcomes  (lower  price,  better  quality)  by  stimulating  greater 
competition  across  the  Single  Market.  It  can  also  contribute  to  addressing  two  of  the  main 
challenges  the  European  economy  is  facing  today:  the  need  to  maximise  the  efficiency  of 
public  expenditure  in  a  context  of  fiscal  constraints  and  the  need  to  find  new  sources  of 
economic growth. 

Contracting  authorities  and  entities  that  have  already  made  the  transition  to  e-procurement 
commonly  report  savings  between  5  and  20%;  experience  also  shows  that  investment  costs 
can be rapidly recouped. Given the size of the total procurement market in the EU, each 5% 
saved  could  return  around  €100  billion  to  th e  public  purse.  E-procurement  also  delivers 
significant  environmental  benefits  by  reducing  paper  consumption  and  transport,  as  well  as 
the need for costly archiving space with its attendant energy consumption. The economic and 
environmental  benefits  of  e-procurement  thus  go  hand-in-hand  –  contributing  to  the 
sustainable  growth  objective  of  the  EU  2020  Strategy.  Moreover,  the  Digital  Agenda  for 
Europe2  and  the  eGovernment  Action  Plan  2011  –  20153  highlight  the  importance  of 
connecting e-procurement capacities across the Single Market. 

Despite  these  undisputable  benefits,  the  EU  is  lagging  behind  both  its  own  targets  and 
internationally. E-procurement is still used in only 5-10% of procurement procedures carried 
out  across  the  EU  despite  ambitious  political  targets.4  By  comparison,  a  full  online 
procurement  market  place  has  already  been  achieved  in  Korea,  which  generated  savings  of 
US$  4.5  billion5  (about  8%  of  total  annual  procurement  expenditure)  annually  by  2007;  in 
Brazil 80% of public procurement is carried out electronically. The EU should act now to reap 
the benefits offered by e-procurement and to avoid losing competitiveness. 

1 

2 
3 
4 

5 

The use of electronic communications and transaction processing by public sector organisations when 
buying supplies and services or tendering public works 
COM(2010)245 
COM(2010) 743 of 15 December 2010 
According to the Manchester Ministerial Declaration of 24 November 2005 “all public administrations 
across Europe will have the capability of carrying out 100% of their procurement electronically” and “at 
least  50%  of  public  procurement  above  the  EU  public  procurement  threshold  will  be  carried  out 
2010: 
electronically” 
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/egovernment/docs/pdf/manchester_declaration.pdf. 
See: http://www.pps.go.kr/english/ for further information 

by 

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The Commission has put forward an ambitious but realistic proposal to  modernise  the  EU's 
public  procurement  legal  framework6  as  foreseen  in  the  2011  Single  Market  Act.7  One 
objective of these proposals is to achieve a full transition to e-procurement in the EU by mid-
2016.8 The ultimate goal is “straight through e-procurement” with all phases of the procedure 
from  notification  (e-notification)  to  payment  (e-payment)  being  conducted  electronically.9 
This  will  maximise  the  efficiency  gains  of  e-procurement  for  the  public  sector  and  allow 
European  companies  –  especially  SMEs  –  to  exploit  the  full  benefits  of  the  Digital  Single 
Market. 

2. 

A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER – THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR E-PROCUREMENT 

The  EU’s  public  procurement  market  is  large:  the  current  directives  cover  contracts  worth 
around €447 billion, while the overall market fo r purchases of goods, services and works by 
the EU public sector is estimated to be worth in excess of €2.4 trillion. 10 E-procurement has 
the potential to bring significant efficiency gains in this large market: 

• 

• 

e-procurement  can  help  improve  the  transparency  of  and  access  to  procurement 
opportunities,  especially  for  SMEs,  thus  stimulating  cross-border  competition, 
innovation  and  growth  in  the  Single  Market.  It  can  also  reduce  error  rates,  for 
example,  by  avoiding  the  need  to  repeatedly  encode  paper-based  information  in  IT 
systems at different phases of the procurement procedure; 

e-procurement  can  also  achieve  significant  cost  reductions,  both  by  lowering  the 
price  that  the  public  sector  pays  to  purchase  goods,  services  and  works;  and  by 
reducing transaction costs for the public sector and for economic operators (including 
by  reducing  the  duration  of  procurement  procedures).  The  resulting  savings  can 
either  help  to  promote  fiscal  consolidation  or  be  redirected  towards  growth 
enhancing initiatives. 

Economic  modelling  work  carried  out  by  the  European  Commission  services  suggest  that 
price reductions in public procurement11 can have a significant macro-economic impact. The 
price  reductions  assumed  in  this  modelling  work  are  well  within  the  range  that  existing  e-
procurement systems have achieved and could raise GDP by up to 0.1 to 0.2% after 5 years.12 

6 
7 
8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

Proposals of 20 December 2011: COM(2011)895 final; COM(2011)896 final and COM(2011)897 final 
The Single Market Act identifies a series of measures to boost the European economy and create jobs 
The  proposals  foresee  mandatory  use  of  e-procurement  at  the  latest  two  years  after  the  transposition 
deadline, which under the current timetable for adoption should allow implementation by mid-2016 
The  procurement  processes  covers  two  main  phases:  the  pre-award  phase  and  the  post  award  phase. 
Pre-award comprises all the sub-phases of procurement until the award of the contract (publication of 
notices, access to tender documents, submission of bids, evaluation of the proposals and the award of 
the contract). Post-award comprises all the sub-phases of procurement  after the award of the contract 
(ordering, invoicing and payment)  
Commission's 
See 
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/docs/indicators2010_en.pdf 
Contracting authorities and entities that made the transition to e-procurement commonly report savings 
between 5 to 20% mainly driven by price reductions 
See Lukas Vogel, Macroeconomic effects of cost savings in public procurement, Economic Papers 389, 
November  2009 
and  Financial  Affairs,  European  Commission): 
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/publication16259_en.pdf.  

for  Economic 

Procurement 

Indicators 

European 

Public 

report 

2010: 

(DG 

on 

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A  conservative  back-of-the-envelope  calculation  from  another  study  suggests  that  a  full 
transition to e-procurement could generate €50 to €75 billion/ year.

13 

There  are  numerous  examples  of  successful  e-procurement  solutions  already  in  operation 
across Europe:14 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

13 

14 

following  the  introduction  of  e-procurement,  Portuguese  hospitals  were  able  to 
achieve  price  reductions  of  18%  on  their  procurement  contracts.  In  aggregate,  the 
switch-over  to  e-procurement  in  Portugal  is estimated to  have  generated  savings of 
about  €650  million  in  the  first  year  and  could  have  reached  €1.2  billion  if  all 
contracting  authorities  had  fully  implemented  e-procurement.  The  potential  savings 
therefore amount to between 6% and 12% of total procurement expenditure. Most of 
the  savings  were  due  to  lower  prices  resulting  from  higher  competition  (more  bids 
per procedure), although administrative savings were also achieved; 

XchangeWales  –  the  Welsh  e-procurement  programme  -  delivered  benefits  of  £58 
million (December 2011), three years after it was launched. The investment costs of 
setting up the programme were recouped in only one year. To date, the programme 
has saved about 15 million sheets of paper, equivalent to 101 tonnes of CO2. So far, 
56 000 suppliers registered in the system and £18 billion of contracts were advertised 
electronically;  

UGAP  (Union  des  groupements  d’achats  publics)–  the  French  central  purchasing 
body  –  estimates  that  the  progressive  switch  to  e-procurement  reduced  the 
administrative  burden  for  buyers  by  10%  (e.g.  through  faster  analysis  of  bids  and 
easy  access  to  documents)  and  by  another  10%  for  the  legal  services  involved  (as 
less  legal  control  was  required  when  e-procurement  is  used).  The  cost  of 
implementing  the  system  was  minimal  compared  to  the  benefits  that  have  already 
been realised, although effort was required to train staff and change internal working 
methods; 

a  study  of  400  local  authorities  in  the  Netherlands  shows  that  switching  to  e-
procurement generates process cost savings of over €8 500 per tender. This is based 
on using electronic means from the publication of notices through to submission, but 
does not include automatic evaluation (which was unavailable on the platforms at the 
time of the survey, but which is now creating further significant savings). Two of the 
key  factors  contributing  to  these  cost  savings  are:  time  reduction  –  per  procedure, 
contracting  authorities  save  on  average  up  to  3  days  and  bidders  up  to  1  day;  and 
reduced printing and postage costs (estimated at €2 350 per tender). 

a recent survey of Norwegian public procurement managers found out that none of 
the  managers  surveyed  would  consider  returning  to  manual,  paper-based  tendering. 
The survey indicates that the use of e-procurement: increased participation by foreign 
firms (22% of respondents) and by SMEs (30% of respondents), resulted in a larger 
number  of  bids  per  tender  (74%  of  respondents),  reduced  purchase  costs  (70%  of 
respondents) and reduced the time spent on each tender by more than 10% (73% of 

See  E-procurement  -  Public  procurement  worth  two  trillion  euros  needs  smarter  spending,  Deutsche 
Bank  Research  (February  2011).  See:  http://www.dbresearch.de/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_DE-
PROD/PROD0000000000269867.PDF. 
These examples were obtained by the European Commission through direct contact with various public 
authorities and stakeholders 

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participants). While these results may not be fully representative due to the limited 
sample size used, they illustrate the benefits that e-procurement can deliver. 

Implementation  of  e-procurement  solutions  inevitably  incurs  some  up-front  costs,  but 
experience shows that these can be recouped in a relatively short period of time. In addition, 
existing  systems  show  that  they  can  be  a  powerful  means  to  promote  SME  participation, 
including  across  borders,  as  SMEs  find  it  easier  to  identify  and  respond  to  tender 
opportunities using electronic means than in a traditional paper-based environment. 

3. 

OVERCOMING THE BARRIERS – THE WAY FORWARD 

The  economic  case  for  e-procurement  is  compelling  and  the  enabling  technologies  for  e-
procurement are now widely available. Nevertheless, a number of barriers continue to hamper 
the transition towards full e-procurement in the EU. Responses to the 2010 Green Paper on e-
procurement15 identified two main drivers of the slow up-take: 

1. 

2. 

The "inertia" exhibited by certain stakeholders. The challenge is to persuade hesitant 
purchasers  and  suppliers  to  change  their  ingrained  habits;  convince  them  that  the 
predicted benefits are attainable and that investments can be recouped in a reasonable 
period.  

Market  fragmentation  that  can  emerge  from  the  existence  of  a  wide  variety  of 
systems,  sometimes  technically  complex,  deployed  across  the  EU  (and  sometimes 
within  a  single  Member  States)  that  can  lead  to  increased  costs  for  economic 
operators/suppliers.  

The challenge is therefore to persuade stakeholders to embrace new electronic solutions and 
ensure  that  the  systems  put  in  place  facilitate  wider  access  across  the  EU  to  these  valuable 
markets. The results of the 2010 evaluation of the Action Plan16 for e-procurement show that 
additional  measures  are  needed  to  support  e-procurement  take-up,  as  the  technology  to 
conduct  e-procurement  is  now  ready  to  be  used.  To  overcome  these  barriers,  the  European 
Commission is undertaking a number of actions, including both legislative and non-legislative 
measures. This chapter describes these actions. 

3.1. 

Creating an effective legal framework 

The strategy set-out in this Communication builds on the e-procurement provisions contained 
in the legislative proposals adopted by the European Commission in December 2011, which 
would replace the existing legislative framework. It is premised on the assumption that these 
proposals  will  be  adopted  without  substantial  change.  This  is  however  without  prejudice  to 
the  outcome  of  the  legislative  procedure,  which  will  need  to  be  taken  into  account  by 
organisations implementing e-procurement systems. 

15 

16 

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Summary  of  the  responses  to  the  Green  Paper  on  expanding  the  use  of  e-procurement  in  the  EU.: 
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/consultations/docs/2010/e-procurement/synthesis_en.pdf. 
See 
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/e-procurement/documents/index_en.htm. 

the  Action  Plan 

documents, 

evaluation 

including 

related 

2010 

and 

at: 

its 

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The  proposal  on  the  classical  sector17  foresees  a  gradual  transition  towards  full  electronic 
means of communication. These will become mandatory for some phases of the procurement 
process  and  for  some  actors  by  the  transposition  deadline:  e.g.  e-notification  to  TED18  and 
electronic availability of procurement notices. Central Purchasing Bodies should also move to 
full  electronic  means  of  communication,  including  electronic  submission  of  bids  (e-
submission)  by  that  date.  All  other  contracting  authorities  will  be  required  to  perform  all 
procurement  procedures  using  electronic  means  of  communication  no  later  than  two  years 
after the transposition deadline, except in duly justified circumstances. 

The  proposal  also  includes  streamlined  provisions  regulating  certain  electronic  procedures 
and tools, such as Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS), electronic auctions (e-auctions) and 
electronic catalogues (e-catalogues). In addition, e-CERTIS will become a mandatory clearing 
house two years after the transposition deadline. It will list the certificates and statements that 
may  be  requested  for  qualification  of  a  bidder  in  procurement  and  will  set  the  equivalence 
criteria across Member States. This will provide greater clarity and legal certainty, especially 
in terms of cross-border submission, with regards to certificates and statements that may be 
required by Member States.19 

The  provisions  on  e-procurement  in  the  proposal  on  the  utilities  sector20  are  substantially 
similar  to  those  in  the  classical  sector.  The  proposal  on  concessions21  also  includes 
requirements on electronic means of communication and foresees a transition period of five 
years  instead  of  two.  If  the  Commission’s  proposals  are  adopted  by  the  end  of  2012  (the 
deadline endorsed by the informal European Council of 30 January 2012), the vast majority of 
procurement  procedures  covered  by  the  proposals  would  in  principle  be  carried  using 
electronic means of communication by mid-2016. 

Last  but  not  least,  the  proposals  support  the  sharing  of  information  and  best  practices  and 
greater  co-operation  through  the  use  of  the  Internal  Market  Information  System  (IMI),  a 
secure  online  application  that  allows  competent  authorities  in  the  EEA  to  communicate 
quickly and easily with their counterparts abroad. In the future, synergies could be explored 
between the IMI application and e-CERTIS. 

The  phased  approach  to  e-procurement  implementation  is  designed  to  give  all  stakeholders 
time  to  meet  the  operational  challenges,  whilst ensuring  that  the  pace  of  change  accelerates 
and  that  all  Member  States  follow  the  same  overall  timetable.  The  objective  is  to  avoid  the 
lengthy  co-existence  of  parallel  electronic  and  paper-based  procedures  that  significantly 
increase costs for both contracting authorities and economic operators. The Commission urges 
Member States to launch the necessary preparatory work as soon as possible to ensure timely 
compliance  with  these  provisions.  The  Commission  will  monitor  and  publicly  report  about 
progress in the Member States as set out in chapter 3.5. 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

Proposal  for  a  Directive  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  public  procurement 
(COM(2011) 896 final)  
TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) is the online version of the 'Supplement to the Official Journal of the 
European Union', dedicated to European public procurement. 
More 
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/e-procurement/e-certis/index_en.htm. 
Proposal  for  a  Directive  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  procurement  by  entities 
operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sector (COM(2011) 895 final) 
Proposal  for  a  Directive  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  the  award  of  concessions 
contracts (COM(2011) 897 final) 

Europa  website 

information 

e-CERTIS 

available 

about 

the 

on 

at: 

is 

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The Commission’s proposals encourage inter-operability between e-procurement systems and 
contain  provisions  designed  to  ensure  that  suppliers  encounter  no  technical  barriers  when 
bidding  on  different  systems.  To  this  end,  it  empowers  the  Commission  to  adopt  delegated 
acts in a number of specific areas to render mandatory the use of specific technical standards. 
These  could  draw  on  work  carried  out  in  the  relevant  standardisation  bodies  and  on 
recommendations  issued  by  the  e-Tendering  Expert  Group  (see  section  3.2).  In  addition,  in 
the context of the Digital Agenda for Europe, guidelines are being developed on how to use 
standards when procuring ICT systems.22  

Although they do not mandate the use of electronic signatures (e-signatures), the legislative 
proposals aim to achieve a better balance between providing flexibility to public authorities 
that  wish  to  use  this  tool,  and  ensuring  greater  cross-border  inter-operability  of  e-signature 
solutions.  If  public  authorities  require  the  use  of  an  advanced  e-signature  as  defined  in 
Directive 1999/93/EC on e-signatures, they must accept e-signatures supported by a qualified 
electronic  certificate  referred  to  in  the  Trusted  List  provided  for  in  Commission  Decision 
2009/767/EC.  The  proposal  thus  leverages  the  approach  developed  under  the  Services 
Directive. 

The  Commission  is  currently  assessing  the  framework  for  electronic  identification, 
authentication and signatures to enhance trust and security and to ensure the ease of use and 
the interoperability of such systems across the EU. A legislative proposal is expected by the 
end of the 2nd quarter of 2012. 

KEY ACTIONS: 
(1) 

European  Parliament  and  Council  to  agree  new  legal  framework  requiring  full 
transition to e-procurement. Deadline: adoption by end-2012. 

(2)  Where  necessary,  European  Commission  to  harmonise  technical  requirements  via 

(3) 

delegated acts. Deadline: after adoption of new directives. 
European  Commission 
identification, authentication and signatures. Deadline: by 2nd quarter 2012. 

to  propose  a  new 

legal  framework  for  electronic 

3.2. 

Promoting practical solutions based on best-practices 

The recent legislative proposals are a necessary but not sufficient condition for the successful 
implementation of e-procurement in the EU. In addition, a number of non-legislative flanking 
actions are needed to support Member States during their transition to full e-procurement and 
to address certain practical challenges currently limiting take-up. 

IT  technology  is  now  mature  to  enable  a  new  generation  of  e-procurement  systems.  New 
paradigms,  already  used  in  the  private  sector,  are  becoming  available  to  public  buyers, 
allowing  them  to  simplify  and  streamline  the  purchase  process  without  compromising  the 
public interests that such procurement must fulfil, e.g. transparency, competition, inclusion of 
SMEs and cross-border bidders, etc. 

Recognising this potential, the Commission’s legislative proposals are based on the principle 
of  simplification,  and  this  priority  should  be  retained  when  considering  the  practical 
implementation of e-procurement solutions. Such solutions should seek to provide an optimal 
balance between performance, cost-effectiveness and accessibility, while of course respecting 

22 

Digital  Agenda  Europe  Action  "Guidance  on  link  between  ICT  standardisation  and  public 
procurement". 

EN 

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the  requirements  of  EU  law.  These  systems  should  be  designed  to  ensure  full  SME 
participation  to  the  procurement  market  in  accordance  with  the  Small  Business  Act  and  the 
"Think  Small  First"  principle.  A  particular  objective  should  be  to  make  the  e-submission 
phase as accessible as possible, removing barriers that currently often discourage newcomers 
from  undertaking  onerous  registration  or  authentication  procedures  required  by  some 
platforms – in some cases requiring the use of tools and assets only available in the country 
concerned. 

In order to address these challenges, the Commission has established an e-Tendering Expert 
Group (e-TEG) tasked with defining a blueprint for pre-award e-procurement that provides a 
basis for the development of “best of breed” solutions. The objective is to promote solutions 
that  achieve  the  optimal  balance  between  usability  and  other  attributes  such  as  security.  An 
essential  task  for  the  e-TEG  is  to  define  an  effective  model  for  e-submission,  as  this  is 
currently  the  main  bottleneck  for  the  wider  implementation  of  e-procurement.  On-going 
standards work, such as that carried out by the CEN BII workshop, will be leveraged by the e-
TEG. 

Using this blueprint as its reference model, the e-TEG will also present recommendations on 
actions  to  be  taken  by  the  EU  institutions  and  Member  States  to  ensure  the  roll-out  of  e-
procurement platforms that guarantee cross-border access and facilitate use by all economic 
operators  in  particular  SMEs,  whilst  nonetheless  preserving  Member  State  autonomy  to 
design  solutions  that  best  fit  national  requirements  and  can  be  integrated  with  existing 
platforms.  

In  parallel,  the  Commission  has  launched  a  study  to  benchmark  current  e-procurement 
practices in Europe. This will lead to the publication of a case-book (“the Golden Book”) of 
best  implementation  practices  based  on  the  review  of  existing  e-procurement  platforms 
against criteria such as accessibility, ease of use and cost-effectiveness. The outcome of this 
work  will  be  used  to  promote  convergence  towards  and  take-up  of  such  good  practices  by 
Member States and public authorities investing in e-procurement infrastructure. 

KEY ACTIONS: 
(4) 

e-TEG  (Expert  Group)  to  issue  recommendations  to  promote  “best  of  breed”  e-
procurement  systems  facilitating  cross-border  access  and  ease  of  use  for  all 
companies. Deadline: by early 2013. 
European Commission to publish report on best e-procurement practice. European 
Commission to use these results to promote best practice across the EU. Deadline: by 
mid-2013. 

(5) 

3.3. 

Supporting the deployment of e-procurement infrastructure 

The  Commission  has  promoted  the  implementation  of  cross-border  e-procurement  solutions 
through PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line),23 a pilot project partly funded 
through the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP). PEPPOL does not provide an 
e-procurement platform but rather the interoperability bridges needed to connect the already 
existing  platforms  in  Member  States.  The  project  comes  to  end  in  mid-2012  and  the 
Commission  intends  to  support  the  sustainability  of  a  range  of  interoperable  PEPPOL 
solutions.  Furthermore,  a  new  CIP  call  is  currently  open,  seeking  proposals  to  develop  a 
comprehensive,  coherent  and  reusable  set  of  public  services  building  blocks  by  bringing 

23 

http://www.peppol.eu/. 

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together  and  completing  work  performed  by  five  current  CIP  pilot  projects  (including 
PEPPOL).24 

As part of the multi annual financial framework, the Commission has proposed the launch of 
the 'Connecting Europe Facility' (CEF)25 programme. Its goal would be to support investment 
in  the  deployment  of  infrastructure  required  to  enable  the  delivery  of  cross  border  public 
services  (i.e.  essential  digital  service  infrastructures  in  the  public  interest).  The  proposed 
budget for these infrastructures is around 2 billion EUR and e-procurement would be one of 
the key services under consideration. It is currently estimated that projects funded under the 
CEF will come on-stream in 2014-2015; . 

Moreover,  the  Commission  will  use  structural  funds  under  the  proposed  Common  Strategic 
Framework (CSF) to complement investments made by the CEF and to support the use of e-
procurement across public administrations in Europe. 

KEY ACTIONS: 
(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

European Commission  to  support the sustainability of PEPPOL components as of 
mid-2012. 
European  Commission  to  fund  and  support  the  development  of  e-procurement 
infrastructure  across  Europe  via  Connecting  Europe  Facility  (CEF).  European 
Commission to launch projects as of 2014-2015. 
European Commission to promote use of Structural Funds to foster e-procurement 
take-up  across  Europe,  as  set-out  in  the  Common  Strategic  Framework  for  2014-
2020. 

3.4. 

Dissemination strategy 

To  overcome  the  inertia  exhibited  by  certain  stakeholders  (see  chapter  3  above),  the 
Commission  will  put  in  place  a  wide-ranging  dissemination  strategy,  aimed  at  informing 
contracting authorities and suppliers about the benefits of e-procurement and about how they 
can be fully exploited. This will draw on a range of tools including: 

• 

• 

the Europe Enterprise Network, to provide targeted advice to European SMEs about 
the opportunities that e-procurement opens for them to bid across the EU; 

in order to ensure that local and regional authorities are made aware of the benefits 
that e-procurement can deliver for them, as well as good practices in e-procurement, 
the  Commission  will  exploit  the  networking  opportunities  offered  by  the  annual 
Open  Days/European  Weeks  of  Regions  and  Cities  as  well  as  the  networking 
programmes (Urbact/INTERREG) and other good practice tools. 

The Commission also intends to organise an annual high-level conference on e-procurement, 
bringing  together  a  wide-range  of  stakeholders  to  debate  the  latest  developments  in  e-
procurement. The first annual conference will take place by mid-2012. 

24 
25 

See http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/ict_psp/projects/index_en.htm. 
The CEF was proposed in 2011 as the common financing instrument for trans-European networks. See 
Communication from the Commission on “A growth package for integrated European infrastructures”, 
COM(2011)676.  See  also  Proposal  for  a  regulation  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council 
establishing the Connecting Europe Facility COM(2011)665 

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KEY ACTIONS: 
(9) 

European  Commission  to  implement  a  wide-ranging  dissemination  strategy  to 
inform public authorities and companies about the opportunities and benefits offered 
by e-procurement. 

(10)  European Commission to organise annual conference on e-procurement, starting in 

mid-2012. 

3.5.  Monitoring e-procurement take-up and benefits 

One of the necessary conditions for EU and national policy-makers to be able to accompany 
and steer the take-up of e-procurement is the capacity to track developments and measure the 
impact of change. There is a shared interest among EU, national and local-level policy makers 
in having reliable and comparable information to optimise the change-over from traditional to 
electronic  processes.  There  is  thus  a  need  to  develop  a  set  of  indicators  to  provide  a 
comprehensive  picture  of  both  the  take-up  of  e-procurement  and  the  efficiency  gains  that  it 
will deliver.  

To  address  this  important  requirement,  the  Commission  has  launched  a  study  aimed  at 
developing  EU  wide  indicators  for  e-procurement.  The  project  will  provide  an  update  on 
progress  and  lay  the  conceptual  foundation  for  a  future  reporting  regime  about  the  use  and 
economic impact of e-procurement across the EU. This reporting regime would be based on 
the  ability  of  e-procurement  platforms  to  generate  homogeneous  indicator  data  when  the 
migration  to  e-procurement  is  completed.  This  data  can  then  be  collected  and  processed  at 
various levels to obtain the required level of information on all procurement across the EU in 
near real-time. 

In order to promote steady progress towards the objective of full e-procurement in the EU, the 
Commission intends to closely monitor both the take-up of e-procurement and its economic 
impact and will publish a report on e-procurement by mid-2013. This report will identify both 
the progress that has been achieved and any outstanding issues which remain, together with 
recommendations on the next steps to be taken. It will also draw on the indicators developed 
by the above mentioned study. 

KEY ACTIONS: 
(11)  European  Commission  to  lay  the  foundations  for  electronic  systems  to  monitor 

procurement expenditure in real-time. Deadline: by mid-2013. 

(12)  European  Commission  to  issue  annual  report  on  e-procurement.  Deadline:  first 

report in mid-2013. 

4. 

LEADING BY EXAMPLE 

As  a  significant  procurer,  the  European  Commission  recognises  its  own  responsibility  to 
obtain the best value for money possible and ensure that its own procurement processes are as 
efficient and effective as possible. This includes leveraging the potential of e-procurement. 

The Digital Agenda for Europe26 and the 2010 e-Government Action Plan27 both committed 
the European Commission to implement “an ambitious e-Commission Action Plan for 2011- 

26 
27 

COM(2010)245 of 19 May 2010. 
COM(2010)743 of 15 December 2010. 

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2015,  including  full  electronic  procurement,  a  public  sector  information  strategy  and  a 
transparency policy.” The Commission expects to adopt the e-Commission Action Plan by the 
end of the 2nd semester of 2012. 

The Commission is already carrying out pilot projects in both the pre- and post-award phases, 
such  as  the  e-Tendering28  and  e-Prior  projects.29  These  projects  will  be  integrated  into  a 
comprehensive solution covering all phases of  the procurement chain. Thanks to the e-Prior 
project  (implemented  under  the  ISA  program30),  e-invoicing  has  been  live  at  the 
Commission's  Directorate  General  for  Informatics  (DIGIT)  since  2009,  offering  significant 
advantages  over  traditional  paper-based  invoicing,  such  as:  better  data  quality;  faster 
processing  time;  absence  of  data  encoding  or  attachment  scanning,  leading  to  a  substantial 
reduction of human errors. Moreover, since the beginning of 2012, e-Invoicing (and gradually 
other e-Procurement processes) is becoming mandatory for other Directorate-Generals of the 
Commission and European Agencies using DIGIT’s Framework Contracts. 

Furthermore,  the  next  phase  of  development  will  concentrate  on  providing  a  system  for 
electronic  submission  –  probably  the  most  challenging  aspect  of  the  pre-award  phase.  A 
feasibility study and an ensuing pilot implementation of this e-submission phase are planned 
before the end of 2012. The system is intended to be fully interoperable with the infrastructure 
developed under the PEPPOL project. Moreover, the software has been and will continue to 
be made available to external users and developers on an open source basis. Currently open e-
Prior  is  being  tested  or  considered  for  implementation  by  contracting  authorities  in  several 
countries such as Greece, Norway and Portugal. 

The  European  Commission  intends  to  complete  the  transition  towards  a  full  e-procurement 
system,  including  both  pre-award  and  post-award  phases,  by  the  end  of  June  2015  – 
delivering  on  its  commitments  in  the  Digital  Agenda  for  Europe  and  e-Government  Action 
Plan. The Commission’s High Level Committee on IT (HLCIT) decided in December 2011 to 
launch  the  necessary  preparatory  work.  The  European  Commission  will  also  work  in  close 
cooperation with other EU institutions, bodies and agencies to assist them with the possible 
integration of e-procurement solutions into their existing procurement procedures. 

KEY ACTIONS: 
(13)  European  Commission  to  implement  full  e-procurement  by  mid-2015  (one  year 

before the deadline for Member States) 

(14)  European Commission to make its e-procurement solutions available to Member 

States that are building their infrastructure, to reduce investment costs.  

5. 

INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION OF E-PROCUREMENT 

The  current  text  of  the  WTO  (World  Trade  Organisation)  GPA  (Government  Procurement 
Agreement)  contains very limited provisions concerning e-procurement and merely foresees 
that parties shall consult regularly on developments in this area. The recently agreed GPA text 
represents a step-change as it recognises the importance of using and encouraging the use of 
electronic  means  for  procurement,  while  contracts  awarded  by  electronic  means  are  now 

28 
29 

30 

EN 

https://etendering.ted.europa.eu/ 
e-PRIOR is a solution developed within the European Commission. It was made available to external 
See 
users 
https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/software/openeprior/description.  
http://ec.europa.eu/isa/ 

e-PRIOR”). 

solution 

(“Open 

source 

open 

an 

as 

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explicitly within the scope of the Agreement. General principles are established governing the 
use  of  electronic  means  while specific rules  apply inter  alia to the electronic  publication of 
notices  and  the  use  of  electronic  auctions.  Beyond  these  legal  provisions,  informal 
consultations among jurisdictions on the use of e-procurement systems will become essential 
to  avoid  new  obstacles  to  cross-border  contracts.  Common  reliance  on  high-quality 
international standards should pave the way to achieve the necessary degree of openness and 
inter-operability. 

In light of the increasingly important international dimension of e-procurement, openness of 
e-procurement  systems  to  bidders  from  all  jurisdictions,  especially  among  WTO  GPA 
members,  must  be  ensured.  The  European  Commission  will  therefore  seek  to  step-up  its 
participation in relevant international standardisation fora and to more systematically include 
e-procurement in bilateral regulatory dialogues with its main trading partners. 

KEY ACTIONS: 
(15)  European Commission to promote international regulatory dialogues about open e-
procurement systems and to actively monitor relevant international standardisation 
work. 

6. 

CONCLUSION 

The  transition  towards  full  e-procurement  is  not  primarily  a  technical  nor  technological 
challenge.  It  is  above  all  an  economic  and  political  challenge,  which  cannot  be  overcome 
without  strong  commitment  at  the  highest  political  level.  The  Commission  therefore  invites 
Member  States  and  the  European  Parliament  to  give  a  clear  political  signal  of  their 
determination  to  face-up  to  this  challenge,  in  particular  by  adopting  the  revised  Public 
Procurement  legislative  package  before  the  end  of  this  year  so  that  the  transition  to  full  e-
procurement is achieved successfully in the EU by mid-2016.  

EN 

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