Workshop on “Public Procurement in the EU: Evolving Rules for Multiple Goals”

The workshop on "Public Procurement in the EU: Evolving Rules for Multiple Goals", being part of the 2nd EU-Macao Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field, will take place from September 24th to September 26th, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., in the Auditorium of the "Finanças" building, located on Avenida da Praia Grande, n.º 575-585, basement. This event is jointly organized by the Institute of European Studies of Macau and by the Law Reform and International Law Bureau. This event aims at introducing the EU view on public procurement. The role of public procurement has been evolving as a tool to tackle an increasing number of issues: ensuring fair competition and driving the unification of the internal market, preserving the competitiveness of the market structure, promoting (financially, environmentally and socially) sustainable development, fostering innovation. Such an increasing complexity, together with recent tight fiscal policies demanding for higher savings, suggest to move towards demand aggregation and more centralized approach. Finally, an outline will be provided on how different elements of contract and tender design can be used to address different issues. This activity will feature as its guest speaker Prof. Marco Sparro, M.Sc., CONSIP (Concessionnaire of Public Informatic Services) - the National Central Purchasing Body - R&D Unit, Italy. The workshop will be conducted in English with simultaneous translation into Cantonese and this training initiative is set out into three modules: 1. The public (e-) procurement system in the EU: main principles and goals; 2. Managing aggregated demand: Central Purchasing Bodies and Framework Agreements; 3. Basic elements of contract and competitive tendering design. The 2nd EU-Macao Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field, which incorporates this workshop, has as its main objective the "Consolidation of the Macao Legal System" and will take place until December 2013. The execution of this Programme is coordinated by the Law Reform and International Law Bureau, with the participation of several other MSAR's entities and public departments, namely the Legal and Judicial Training Centre, the Legal Affairs Bureau, the Economic Services, the Financial Services Bureau and the Institute of European Studies of Macao.