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This Chapter describes the use of negotiated procedures (with and without publication of a contract notice) in public procurement.
Moreover, Annex 5-1 presents the procedure of the competitive dialogue, a new form of procurement procedure introduced by the new institutional framework.
These two procedures, together with the "conventional procedures", i.e. the open procedure and the restricted procedure, make up the entire set of procedures provided for under the Community legislation on the award of public supply contracts, public service contracts and public works contracts. These procedures have been transposed into the national law and are applied accordingly.
Finally, Annex 5-2 examines two special cases of public contracts:
| ● | concessions, and |
| ● | public-private partnerships, also known as PPPs. |
Reference to these two types of contracts is made because in these cases the Contracting Authorities usually follow procedures that involve consultations and negotiations with the economic operators.
It should be noted that the discussion of the competitive dialogue and of concessions and PPPs is included in this Guide with the aim of providing information to Contracting Authorities about the new possibilities offered to them, together with general guidelines and instructions on their application.
Contracting Authorities should bear in mind that the procedures involving consultations, negotiations and dialogue with the economic operators are particularly demanding, in terms of care and skills, on the Contracting Authority officials who conduct them. These officials should be familiar with both the national and the Community legislation, so as to be able to apply the principles and provisions of the institutional framework and thus minimise the likelihood of appeals and objections. In such cases, Contracting Authorities should seek the assistance of specialised legal, financial and technical consultants.
The negotiated procedures may also be applied in cases of complex contracts, when these are subject to restrictions of the Law, and may also be applied by analogy in cases of ordinary low-value contracts which are subject to the same restrictions of the Law.
More particularly, in this Chapter the Guide provides Contracting Authorities with practical instructions and guidelines on how to use the negotiated procedure in a way which will ensure full compliance with the requirements of the institutional framework and will be suitably adapted to the specific characteristics of the contract to be awarded. In order to make effective use of the procedure, Contracting Authorities should:
| • | Understand the key characteristics of the procedure (types, options, flexibility limits). |
| • | Be aware of the cases justifying use of the negotiated procedure with or without publication of a contract notice. |
| • | Be able to prepare, organise and conduct successfully a negotiation process. |
More specifically, they should be able to:
| ● | Determine the different stages of the negotiated procedure. |
| ● | Prepare the tender documents in support of the procedure. |
| ● | Make use of effective negotiation techniques. |
| ● | Be aware of the options available under the negotiated procedure for reducing the number of tenders to be negotiated. |