92002E0269

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0269/02

by Malcolm Harbour (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 February 2002)

Subject: Preparation for the European Council meeting in Barcelona

The 2000 Lisbon European Council asked the Commission, the Council and the Member States, each in accordance with their respective powers, to take the necessary steps to ensure that it is possible by 2003 for Community and government procurement to take place on-line. Does the Commission believe this target will be met, and what evidence can it point to to support its view?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(22 February 2002)

As part of the e-Europe initiative, which was confirmed by the Lisbon European Council of 23 and 24 March 2000, the Commission has undertaken to work to put in place a legal framework designed for on-line public procurement.

On 10 May 2000 the Commission adopted two proposals for Directives(1), one of the aims of which is to enable public procurement to be carried out electronically. Discussion of these proposals is under way in the Council and in Parliament, which presented its amendments at first reading on 16 January 2002.

The Commission has also taken initiatives to reinforce the legal framework for carrying out public procurement electronically, by adopting the Directive on the use of standard forms in the publication of public contract notices (Commission Directive 2001/78/EC of 13 September 2001)(2), and the proposal for a Regulation on the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)(3).

The Commission, for its part, is doing all it can to ensure that the 2003 deadline is met.

(1) OJ C 29 E, 30.1.2001.

(2) Commission Directive 2001/78/EC of 13 September 2001 amending Annex IV to Council Directive 93/36/EEC, Annexes IV, V and VI to Council Directive 93/37/EEC, Annexes III and IV to Council Directive 92/50/EEC, as amended by Directive 97/52/EC, and Annexes XII to XV, XVII and XVIII to Council Directive 93/38/EEC, as amended by Directive 98/4/EC (Directive on the use of standard forms in the publication of public contract notices), OJ L 285, 29.10.2001.

(3) OJ C 25 E, 29.1.2002.