European Union officials are understood to be very interested in the implications of the proposals, and lobbyists such as the Construction Confederation are getting support from some members of the European Parliament.
John Collinge, from the Office of Government Commerce stressed that lobbying for PFI and PPP has to work otherwise 'PFI as far as contractors are concerned is off the rails.'
Contractors need the freedom to carry on with the preferred bidder system, he said. He suggested that 'competitive dialogue' applied to both open and restricted tenders — the latter is favoured by the EU — would enable awarding bodies to refine bids allowing them to discuss detailed concepts with a preferred bidder.
The new rules outlined in the draft European Public Procurement Directive are aimed at reducing the complexity of PFI and PPP projects. But reducing the number of stages in the tender process by removing the preferred bidder stage will 'hugely increase bid costs,' said Herzberg.
The draft is scheduled for completion at the end of 2001, and will then go through national governments during 2002-03.
Source
The Facilities Business