Fit4Tenders held their second conference dedicated to the theme public procurement on Wednesday 9 March in the Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.

The event drew over 125 participants as the topic revolved around the changes planed to the 2014/24/UE and 2014/25/UE European directives on public procurement which aim to cut red tape that businesses, and particularly the PMEs, have to face.
  
Sabrina Sagramola, Manager of the Enterprise Europe Network at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, welcomed everyone and introduced her fellow speakers who included Matija Matokovic, Policy Officer at the European Commission (EC) and specialised in electronic public procurement in the EU, Benoît Morisset, Head of unit at the EC, Office for Infrastructure and Logistics (OIL), Jeroen Koevoets, Senior Procurement Officer at the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), and Sébastien Couvreur, Lawyer and Partner at Etude Krieger Associates.

The conference advised those attending on the creation of the Single Administrative Document (SAD) that will relieve them of the production of certificates or documents related to exclusion and selection criteria (within the tendering process). Companies were also informed on e-Certis, an information system that provides simplified information on the different certificates that are frequently requested within public procurement procedures in the 28 EU Member States. Through this platform, the European Commission hopes to promote a simpler service to the SMEs to the European markets.

The remainder of the event focused on the massive initiatives taken by the European Commission and NSPA in order to simplify certain procedures to facilitate SME access to markets.

The conference concluded with a practical review regarding the content and the selection criteria for a tender as well as the supply analysis by the contracting authority.

The Enterprise Europe Network - Luxembourg proposed that a third Fit4Tenders conference be held on 19 October 2016, on the topic of public procurements in neighbouring countries.

Photo by: Chambre de Commerce Luxembourg