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Write to us: kontakt@stowarzyszeniepzp.pl
Public institution representatives, experts and public procurement practitioners met on 28 September 2017 in Warsaw to debate the way legal protection systems function in the field of public procurement law in Poland and other EU member states. The debate was organized by the Public Procurement Law Association (SPZP). Media patronage was provided by the Rzeczpospolita newspaper.
The Report on legal protection systems in EU member states produced by the Association was the starting point of the debate. The Report was presented as a part of the debate by Piotr Bogdanowicz PhD, Wojciech Hartung PhD, and Anna Szymańska who authored the Report.
In addition to the presentation of the Report’s conclusions, the event’s agenda included lectures and discussion panels attended by public procurement law specialists. Lectures were delivered by Aleksandra Sołtysińska PhD, from the Chair of European Law at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University and Marta Laszuk, Legal Officer at the European Commission. Panels conducted by the Association’s Board members were attended, among others, by the representatives of the Public Procurement Office [Urząd Zamówień Publicznych], the National Appeal Chamber [Krajowa Izba Odwoławcza], the Supreme Chamber of Audit [Najwyższa Izba Kontroli], the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection [Urząd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów], Polish Association of the Construction Industry Employers [Polski Związek Pracodawców Budownictwa], the National Bank of Poland [Narodowy Bank Polski] as well as representatives of other contracting authorities.
“The interest in the debate and the report was way beyond our expectations of which are so glad. We hope that the presented report’s conclusions will be a prelude to further discussion on the public procurement law system in Poland and other EU member states” – says Aldona Kowalczyk, Chairman of the Public Procurement Law Association.
Polish version of the Report is available here.
The introduction of mandatory adjudicating panels consisting of three members, appointment of permanent technical and economic experts as well as other assistant officers, are suggestions recommended in a feature article published in the newspaper Rzeczpospolita by Anna Szymańska, Dr. Wojciech Hartung and Dr. Piotr Bogdanowicz, members of the Public Procurement Law Association and authors of the report entitled “The functioning of legal protection measures in EU countries. Key conclusions”. Other proposals include extension of deadlines for filing an appeal, lower registration fees and fees for protection measures, as well as the introduction of an obligation to serve briefs on the parties and other participants of review procedures before a hearing. The authors of the report also suggested that jurisdiction to process appeals against awards handed down by the National Appeals Chamber should be conferred on a single court.
See full article here.
The report was presented during a debate organized by the Association and may be downloaded from the Association’s website.
We are proud to invite you to acquaint yourselves with our report on legal protection measures in EU countries.
The study includes a proposal to extend the time limits for lodging a complaint, reduce the fee for bringing legal protection measures and introduce an obligation to provide parties and participants with pleadings before the hearing.
The authors of the report (Anna Szymańska, Wojciech Hartung PhD and Piotr Bogdanowicz PhD) also recommend that a single court be set up to hear appeals against decisions of the National Chamber of Appeal.
Tomorrow, 28 September 2017, we will launch a debate on legal remedies available under Polish and other EU member states' public procurement laws. The meeting will be attended by public procurement officials, experts and practitioners and a representative of the European Commission. Our status report on legal remedies in EU countries will serve as a point of departure for the ensuing debate.
The report was prepared in furtherance of the primary objectives of the Association which is to popularize legal standards prevailing in the EU in the scope of public procurement and concession contracts, and to propagate knowledge of public procurement and concession contracts regulations in Poland and abroad, and to conduct research, enquiries to prepare and analyses on these issues.
In the opinion of the report’s authors, an effective system of legal remedies in public procurement cases ought to complement public procurement and concession contracts award regulations. In the absence of a robust system, genuine opening of domestic markets to competition on the EU market could prove impossible.
The report’s authors hope that the report will serve to support the analytical process currently conducted at the Polish and EU level, especially in the context of the Polish appellate system.
The report was prepared on the basis of answers to questions asked in a survey sent by Association members to law firms from 27 EU member states. The questions asked involved a wide range of issues, including the system of appeal procedures in the given member state, specific legal solutions and the practical application of available legal remedies.
In an interview in the Rzeczpospolita daily, Aldona Kowalczyk, Chairman of the Public Procurement Law Association, touched on the groundbreaking decision of the National Board of Appeals (KIO) allowing winning bids in below-threshold procurements to be appealed.
“Until now, I was finding KIO’s approach to appeals concerning below-threshold procurements to be utterly incomprehensible. KIO was rejecting all appeals against selections of the best bids en masse whenever these involved charges of neglect in rejecting bids or prospective contractors. This practice was prompted by a restrictive interpretation of the new regulation which, ironically, was promulgated in response to calls from contractors clamoring ― and quite rightly too ― for more leeway in filing appeals in below-threshold procurement procedures. I am pleased with this most recent ruling by the KIO which has now abandoned the restrictive interpretation and came up with one more favorable to contractors,” said Ms. Aldona Kowalczyk.
The entire interview (in Polish) is available at this webpage.
Jolanta Ojczyk hosted Katarzyna Kuźma, Vice-Chairman of the Public Procurement Law Association, on her TV show #RZECZoPRAWIE.
Katarzyna Kuźma outlined the Association’s objectives and discussed the most important public procurement law amendments of recent months.
“The Public Procurement Law and the Act on Concessions are currently being amended and there is also talk of reforming the appeal system. So many issues are involved here that we decided to create our Association to serve as a platform for wide-ranging debates and to act as a partner in substantive discussions on public procurement regulations”, said Ms. Katarzyna Kuźma.
The entire interview (in Polish) is available at this webpage.
