In accordance with Article 21 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the Union is to define and pursue common policies and actions, and improve cooperation in all fields in international relations in order, inter alia, to encourage the integration of all countries into the world economy, including through the progressive abolition of restrictions on international trade.
(2)
Pursuant to Article 206 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Union, by establishing a customs union, is to contribute, in the common interest, to the harmonious development of world trade, to the progressive abolition of restrictions on international trade and on foreign direct investment, and to the lowering of customs and other barriers
(3)
In accordance with Article 26 TFEU, the Union is to adopt measures with the aim of establishing or ensuring the functioning of the internal market, comprising an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured in accordance with the Treaties. The access of third-country economic operators, goods and services to the public procurement or concession markets of the Union falls within the scope of the common commercial policy.
(4)
Article III:8 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 and Article XIII of the General Agreement on Trade in Services exclude government procurement from the main multilateral World Trade Organization (WTO) disciplines.
(5)
Within the framework of the WTO and through its bilateral relations, the Union advocates an ambitious opening of the international public procurement and concession markets of the Union and its trading partners, in a spirit of reciprocity and mutual benefit.
(6)
The plurilateral WTO Agreement on Government Procurement and the Union trade agreements that include provisions on public procurement provide for market access for Union economic operators only to the public procurement or concession markets of third countries that are parties to those agreements.
(7)
Where a third country is a Party to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement or has concluded a trade agreement with the Union that includes provisions on public procurement, the Commission should follow the consultation mechanisms or dispute settlement procedures set out in those agreements where the restrictive practices relate to public procurement covered by market access commitments undertaken by that third country towards the Union.
(8)
Many third countries are reluctant to open their public procurement or concession markets to international competition, or to improve access to those markets. As a consequence, Union economic operators face restrictive public procurement practices in many third countries which result in the loss of substantial trading opportunities.
(9)
Regulation (EU) No 654/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) lays down rules and procedures in order to ensure the exercise of the Union’s rights under international trade agreements concluded by the Union. No such rules and procedures exist for the treatment of economic operators, goods and services that are not covered by such international agreements.
(10)
International market access commitments undertaken by the Union towards third countries in the field of public procurement and concessions require, inter alia, the equal treatment of economic operators from those third countries. Consequently, measures adopted under this Regulation can only apply to economic operators, goods or services from third countries that are not parties to the plurilateral WTO Agreement on Government Procurement or to bilateral or multilateral trade agreements concluded with the Union that include commitments on access to public procurement or concession markets, or to economic operators, goods or services from countries that are parties to such agreements but only with respect to public procurement procedures for goods, services or concessions that are not covered by those agreements. In accordance with Directives 2014/23/EU (4), 2014/24/EU (5) and 2014/25/EU (6) of the European Parliament and the Council and as clarified by the communication of the Commission of 24 July 2019 on Guidance on the participation of third-country bidders and goods in the EU procurement market, economic operators from third countries, which do not have any agreement providing for the opening of the EU procurement market, or whose goods, services and works are not covered by such an agreement, do not have secured access to procurement procedures in the EU and may be excluded.
(11)
The effective application of any measure adopted under this Regulation with a view to improving the access of Union economic operators to the public procurement or concession markets of certain third countries requires a clear set of rules of origin for economic operators, goods and services.
(12)
The origin of a good should be determined in accordance with Article 60 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7).
(13)
The origin of a service should be determined on the basis of the origin of the natural or legal person providing it. The origin of a legal person should be considered to be the country under the laws of which a legal person is constituted or otherwise organised and in the territory of which the legal person is engaged in substantive business operations. Legal persons constituted or otherwise organised under the laws of a Member State should only be considered to have their origin in the Union if they have a direct and effective link with the economy of a Member State. To avoid a possible circumvention of an International Procurement Instrument (IPI) measure, the origin of foreign-controlled or owned legal persons that are not engaged in substantive business operations in the territory of a third country or in the territory of a Member State, under the laws of which they are constituted or otherwise organised, may also need to be determined by taking into account other elements, such as the origin of the owners or other persons exercising a dominant influence over that legal person.
(14)
When assessing whether specific measures or practices exist in a third country that could result in an impairment of access of Union economic operators, goods or services to the public procurement or concession markets of that third country, the Commission should examine to what degree laws, rules or other measures on the public procurement or concession markets of the third country concerned ensure transparency in line with international standards, and do not result in serious and recurrent restrictions against Union economic operators, goods, or services. In addition, the Commission should examine to what degree individual third-country contracting authorities or contracting entities adopt or maintain restrictive practices against Union economic operators, goods or services.
(15)
The Commission should be able to initiate at any time a transparent investigation into allegedly restrictive measures or practices adopted or maintained by a third country.
(16)
Given the overall policy objective of the Union to support the economic growth of least developed countries and their integration into global value chains, the Commission should not start an investigation in respect of countries benefitting from the ‘Everything But Arms’ arrangement as listed in Annex IV of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8).
(17)
When conducting the investigation, the Commission should invite the third country concerned to enter into consultations with a view to eliminating or remedying any restrictive measures or practices and thereby improving the tendering opportunities for Union economic operators, goods and services regarding public procurement or concession markets in that third country.
(18)
It is of the utmost importance that the investigation is carried out in a transparent manner. A report on the main findings of the investigation should therefore be publicly available.
(19)
Where the investigation confirms the existence of restrictive measures or practices, and the consultations with the third country concerned do not lead to satisfactory corrective actions that remedy the serious and recurrent impairment of access for Union economic operators, goods and services within a reasonable timeframe or where the third country concerned declines to enter into consultations, the Commission should adopt under this Regulation, if it considers such adoption to be in the interest of the Union, an IPI measure in the form of a score adjustment or of an exclusion of tenders.
(20)
The determination of whether the adoption of an IPI measure is in the interest of the Union should be based on an appreciation of all the various interests taken as a whole, including the interests of the Union’s economic operators. The Commission should weigh the consequences of adopting such a measure against its impact on the Union’s broader interests. It is important that special consideration is given to the general objective of achieving reciprocity by opening third-country markets and improving market access opportunities for Union economic operators. The objective of limiting any unnecessary administrative burden for contracting authorities and contracting entities as well as economic operators should also be taken into account.
(21)
A score adjustment should be applied only for the purpose of the evaluation of tenders submitted by economic operators originating in the third country concerned. Such a measure should not affect the price to be paid under the contract to be concluded with the successful tenderer. When contracting authorities or contracting entities decide to base their evaluation of tenders on a price or cost as the only contract award criterion, the level of score adjustment should be set significantly higher to ensure comparable effectiveness of the IPI measure.
(22)
IPI measures should apply to public procurement procedures falling under the scope of this Regulation, including framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems. Where a specific contract is awarded under a dynamic purchasing system to which an IPI measure applies, IPI measures should also apply to that specific contract. However, IPI measures should not apply to contracts below a certain threshold with a view to limiting the overall administrative burden for contracting authorities and contracting entities. In order to avoid a possible double application of IPI measures, such measures should not apply to contracts awarded based on a framework agreement if IPI measures have already been applied at the stage of concluding that framework agreement.
(23)
To avoid a possible circumvention of an IPI measure, appropriate obligations should be imposed on successful tenderers. Those obligations should apply only to public procurement procedures which are subject to an IPI measure, as well as to contracts awarded based on a framework agreement where the value of such contracts are equal to or above a certain threshold and where that framework agreement is subject to an IPI measure.
(24)
Where a third country engages in substantive and advanced negotiations with the Union concerning market access in the field of public procurement, with a view to eliminating or remedying the impairment of access of Union economic operators, goods or services to its public procurement or concession markets, the Commission should be able to, during the negotiations, suspend IPI measures which refer to the third country concerned.
(25)
It is important that IPI measures are uniformly applied in the Union by contracting authorities and contracting entities. To take into account the diversity of administrative capacity of contracting authorities and contracting entities, Member States should be able to request the exemption from IPI measures for a limited list of local contracting authorities under certain strict requirements. When checking the lists of local contracting authorities as proposed by the Member States, it is important that the Commission take into consideration the particular situation of those contracting authorities as regards, inter alia, the levels of population and the geographical situation. Such exemption could also refer to public procurement procedures that those contracting authorities should be able to carry out under framework agreements or dynamic purchasing systems.
(26)
It is imperative that contracting authorities and contracting entities have access to a range of high-quality products meeting their purchasing requirements at a competitive price. Contracting authorities and contracting entities should therefore be able not to apply IPI measures limiting access of non-covered goods and services where there are no Union or covered goods or services available which meet the requirements of the contracting authority or contracting entity or to safeguard essential public policy needs, for example regarding overriding reasons relating to public health or protection of the environment. When contracting authorities or contracting entities apply those exceptions, the Commission should be informed in a timely and comprehensive manner thereof to allow for appropriate monitoring of the implementation of this Regulation.
(27)
In the case of a misapplication by contracting authorities or contracting entities of IPI measures that negatively affects the chances of economic operators having a right to participate in the public procurement procedure, Council Directives 89/665/EEC (9) and 92/13/EEC (10) should be applicable. The affected economic operators should be able to initiate a review procedure in accordance with the national law implementing those Directives if, for example, those economic operators consider that a competing economic operator should have been excluded or a bid should have been ranked lower due to the application of an IPI measure. The Commission should also be able to apply the corrective mechanism in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 89/665/EEC or Article 8 of Directive 92/13/EEC.
(28)
In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11).
(29)
The examination procedure should be used for the adoption of implementing acts regarding the adoption, withdrawal, suspension, reinstatement or extension of an IPI measure and the Commission should be assisted by the Trade Barriers Committee established by Regulation (EU) 2015/1843 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12). Given that IPI measures could have different effects on the Union’s public procurement or concession markets, the comitology procedure applicable to draft implementing acts providing for the exclusion of tenders should be adapted and in such cases Article 5(4), third subparagraph, of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 should apply.
(30)
If necessary and for matters affecting the application of the Union’s legal framework on public procurement, the Commission should be able to seek the advice of the Advisory Committee for Public Contracts established by Council Decision 71/306/EEC (13).
(31)
Information received pursuant to this Regulation should only be used for the purpose for which it was requested and with due respect to the applicable Union and national data protection and confidentiality requirements. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and the Council (14)as well as Article 28 of Directive 2014/23/EU, Article 21 of Directive 2014/24/EU and Article 39 of Directive 2014/25/EU should apply accordingly.
(32)
In line with the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (15) and with a view to, inter alia, reducing administrative burden, in particular on Member States, the Commission should regularly review the scope, functioning and efficiency of this Regulation. Such review would address, inter alia, the possibility of making use of any means available in order to facilitate the exchange of information, including electronic procurement facilities such as the standard forms for the publication of notices in the field of public procurement, pursuant to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1780 (16), as well as the burden incurred by contracting authorities and contracting entities when applying this Regulation. The Commission should report on its assessment to the European Parliament and to the Council and, where appropriate, should submit appropriate legislative proposals.
(33)
Public procurement rules and principles applicable to public contracts awarded by Union institutions on their own account are set out in Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council (17) and thus fall outside the scope of this Regulation. Under Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046, those rules are based on the rules set out in Directives 2014/23/EU and 2014/24/EU. It is therefore appropriate to assess whether, in the context of a revision of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046, the rules and principles set out in this Regulation should be made applicable also to public contracts awarded by Union institutions.
(34)
To facilitate the application of this Regulation by contracting authorities, contracting entities and economic operators, the Commission should issue guidelines. Those guidelines should provide information, in particular, on the notions of the origin of natural and legal persons, the origin of goods and services, additional obligation and the application of those provisions within the framework of this Regulation. In light of the overall policy objective of the Union to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), those guidelines should also take into account the specific information needs of SMEs in their application of this Regulation with a view to preventing their overburdening.
(35)
In accordance with the principle of proportionality and in order to achieve the basic objective of improving the access of Union economic operators, goods and services to the public procurement or concession markets of third countries by establishing measures regarding non-covered procurement, it is necessary and appropriate to lay down rules on procedures for the Commission to undertake investigations into alleged third-country measures or practices against Union economic operators, goods and services, and to enter into consultations with the third countries concerned. This Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve the objectives pursued, in accordance with Article 5(4) of the TEU,
