INTRODUCTION

The Public Procurement Directorate (PPD) of the Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus, acknowledging the responsibilities of public procurement officials and the difficulties they are facing in performing their duties, and in line with its role which also involves the formulation of a public procurement policy and the provision of guidance thereon to Contracting Authorities and Contracting Entities in the Republic of Cyprus, has deemed it necessary to publish a Public Procurement Best Practice Guide.

The present Guide was developed under the project “Measures to Develop the Implementing Capacity of the Cypriot Authorities in Applying the European Public Procurement Legislative Package”, implemented by the Public Procurement Directorate of the Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus and financed by the EU Transition Facility Fund. The contractor appointed for the project following an international tender procedure was the Consortium of the companies PLANET S.A. and ICON INSTITUT - Public Sector GmbH.

The Guide aims at providing Contracting Authorities and Contracting Entities in the Republic of Cyprus with practical and easily to follow instructions and guidelines on the correct and effective application of the Community legislation on the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts. These guidelines are presented in a manner that facilitates their application by the competent officials of Contracting Authorities and Contracting Entities. The Guide also provides specific best practice examples, together with support tools to assist the tasks of competent officials in all phases of public procurement. Although the Guide is fully harmonised with the Community and national legislation on public procurement, it has no legal status and should never be considered as a substitute for use in the application of the provisions of this legislation.

The Guide addresses the entire lifecycle of a public contract, starting with the identification by the Contracting Authority or Contracting Entity of the need for the implementation of a works project, the supply of products or the provision of services, and ending with the completion of the contract to be signed by the selected Contractor. The Guide is structured in seven (7) individual Chapters that correspond to the key steps in the lifecycle of a public contract. The contents of the Guide’s Chapters are relatively autonomous, allowing readers to study a particular Chapter without necessarily having to read the preceding Chapters. Finally, it should be noted that the Guide also comprises the model draft tender documents for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts or public service contracts using the open, restricted or simplified procedure, given as Annexes to Chapter 3.

The correct and effective application of the Community and national legislation on public procurement requires the competent officials of Contracting Authorities and Contracting Entities to possess in-depth knowledge and specialised expertise. It is the ambition of this Guide to be of significant help in both these directions.