European Union defence ministers have agreed to publish invitations to tender on the internet from 1 July as part of efforts to throw open the EU’s military procurement markets to effective cross-border competition.
Until now, defence and security contracts have been exempt from EU anti-trust laws that ensure any European business can bid for contracts in any of the 24 member states. The European Defence Agency (EDA), created in 2004 to co-ordinate defence procurement, had been pushing for a reversal of this exemption.
Defence ministers passed the Intergovernmental Regime to Encourage Competition in the European Defence Equipment Market in November, establishing a voluntary code of conduct.
Europe’s four largest countries – France, Germany, Italy and the UK – together spend about €160 billion ($187 billion) a year on defence, about one-third of that of the USA.
The EDA says about half of all contracts escape single-market rules and several countries use the exemption to award contracts to national champions without a transparent tender process.
The EDA steering board, meeting at the level of national armaments directors, has agreed the principles and main features of an electronic bulletin board to publicise contract opportunities, accompanied by a system for monitoring the voluntary code’s effectiveness.
It has also approved roadmaps for further work on three other issues related to the code: security of information, security of supply and offsets in exchange for award of defence contracts.
“The code of conduct…commits member states to maximising fair and equal opportunities for all suppliers based in other subscribing member states by publicising procurement opportunities through the electronic bulletin board, which will be operated by the agency, and setting transparent and objective criteria for selecting bidders and awarding contracts,” says the EDA.
AIMEE TURNER / LONDON
Source: Flight International