ESF Guidance Manual 4 Annex 11: Article 13: ESF Verification ...

on Public Procurement and Concessions to Institutionalised Public-Private
Partnerships (2007/C 6661)
General
Verifications in relation to public procurement should aim to ensure that EC
procurement rules and related national rules are complied with and that the
principles of equality of treatment, non-discrimination, transparency, free
movement and competition have been respected throughout the entire
process.
Verifications in this area should be carried out as soon as possible after the
particular process has occurred as it is often difficult to take corrective action
at a later date.
At award of funding stage, it should be ensured that beneficiaries are aware
of their obligations in this area and that staff has received relevant training.
Some Member States have prepared specific guidance on public
procurement to be used by beneficiaries. This is particularly useful where
beneficiaries are involved in ‘one-off’ contracts and lack relevant experience.
Guides and explanatory notes on the Community rules for public
procurement have been produced by the European Commission and provide
useful information and explanations which can be used during verifications.
(http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/index_en.htm)
Intensity of verifications of public procurement
The intensity of management verifications can vary according to the value
and type of the contracts.
In at least one Member State, compliance with public procurement rules for
all contracts that exceed either the thresholds set in the EC public
procurement directives, or national thresholds where these are lower, are
checked. This approach may not be practical where the number of contracts
exceeding the thresholds is high, but is particularly recommended where the
contracting authority is known to lack relevant experience.
It is essential that suitably experienced and qualified staff should be used to
carry out these verifications and that detailed checklists are available for use
by the staff.
Planning
Beneficiaries are responsible for ensuring the quality of the initial studies, the
design and the accuracy of the project costing. Managing authorities /
intermediate bodies should verify these elements and also check that cost
estimates are up-to-date. This should ensure that problems with additional
works / supplementary contracts during project implementation are avoided.
Particular attention should be paid to checking:
• The appropriateness of the procurement method being used;
• The interdependence between the different contract phases (land
acquisitions, site preparation, utilities connections etc);
• Financing plans and the availability of national co-financing.
Manual 4 Annex 11 - Article 13 Strategy | September 2012 Page 30 of 33