I have uploaded a new paper on SSRN, which I will be presenting at the workshop on ‘Collaborative Efficiency in Government: The Trend, The Implications’ during the forthcoming ECPR Joint Sessions, Scuola Superior Sant’Anna and University of Pisa, 24-28 April 2016.
The paper is entitled 'Collaborative Cross-Border Procurement in the EU: Future or Utopia?' and, in short, tries to conceptualise and look critically at the immensely complex legal issues that Directive 2014/24 has left unresolved. In order to conceptualise the political, economic and legal issues, I use a theoretical scenario that looks like this (so maybe it needs to be read with pen and paper, apologies!):
As the abstract explains in more detail:
Collaborative public procurement has been gaining traction in recent years and could be considered at the spearhead of public procurement reform and innovation. The 2014 reform of the EU public procurement rules (mainly Directive 2014/24) has expanded the tool-kit available to contracting authorities willing to engage in joint or centralised procurement activities, and in particularly in cross-border procurement collaboration. In a push forward, and as part of the Strategy for a deeper and fairer single market in its larger context, the European Commission is developing a policy to facilitate and promote cross-border collaborative public procurement in the European Union.This paper adopts a sceptical approach and critically assesses the political, economic and in particular legal factors that can facilitate or block such development. To do so, it focuses on a case study based on a theoretical scenario of cross-border collaboration between centralised purchasing bodies in different EU Member States. The paper ultimately aims to establish a blueprint for future legal research in this area, in particular regarding the emergence of trans-EU public law.
This is an area where much more thoughtful legal research is needed, and I intend to do so in a paper I am just starting on the 'The emergence of trans-EU public law. Public procurement as a case study'. For now, though, the exploratory paper is out and comments would be most welcome!
The full paper is available: A Sanchez-Graells, Collaborative Cross-Border Procurement in the EU: Future or Utopia? (February 18, 2016). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2734123.