News item | 24-01-2025 | 14:45
Entrepreneurs, especially in SMEs, find their legal protection insufficient for tendering. The cabinet therefore wants to balance the position of companies and contracting authorities more in terms of differences of insight or conflicts. For example, by setting up complaints counter and sharpening the obligation to reassemble in decisions. The Council of Ministers has agreed to the proposal from Minister Beljaarts of Economic Affairs. The bill is now sent to the Council of State for advice. This is followed by the treatment in the Second and Senate.
The bill is not just a better balance between entrepreneurs and contracting authorities such as municipalities, provinces, water boards and the government. It must also ensure that more account is taken of the interests of other tenderers before the award of an assignment and the winning entrepreneur after the award. It is important that they are not unnecessarily in uncertainty for unnecessarily long and that the handling of complaints is done everywhere in the same way.
Minister Beljaarts: “It is in the interest of both governments and the business community that tendering procedures are going well. And if it unexpectedly comes to a conflict, then there must be sufficient legal protection options. This is not yet functioning optimally. That is why I want to improve this with a law. Companies must be able to count on an effective government. Tendering is typically an example in which The Hague can set a good example towards companies. ”
Four concrete improvements in legal protection
The bill contains four specific legal improvements, so that entrepreneurs can raise problems with tenders in an accessible way and have their case assessed.
There will be complaints counter for all contracting authorities and setting up periods is obliged to handle complaints effectively. In addition, the committee of tender experts – an independent national complaints committee – will have a stronger role. Finally, the bill arranges the sharpening of the obligation to reasons by decisions by contracting authorities. This makes it clearer for entrepreneurs why they don’t get an assignment. They can also stand up more easily against decisions of contracting authorities.
The Cabinet has previously announced the tendering practice of governments, with which between 110 and 120 billion euros in services and products is purchased annually, to further professionalize by, among other things, improving legal protection. The bill becomes public as soon as the Council of State has provided this with advice. The minister then submits it to the House of Representatives.