IMCO Members voted on the report of M. Tarabella on the proposal for a Directive Public Procurement. The Report was adopted with 23 votes in favour, 8 against and 7 abstentions. Approximately 150 amendments were adopted, out of which 90 compromise amendments reached between Shadows and the Rapporteur.
In total, 92 compromise amendments had been reached, which ensured a smooth voting process. The compromises adopted include, a general principle on social and environmental considerations; on life-cycle costing; on subcontracting; on public-public cooperation and on exclusions as well as on the 'light regime' for social services.
While the Rapporteur stated his satisfaction with the outcome of the vote and the work done between the Shadows, some Groups expressed concerns with regard to the final outcome of the vote. In particular, they mentioned the lack of simplification achieved and stressed that more could be done to increase legal certainty for contracting authorities and access to public procurement for SMEs.
Regarding future steps, the Directives on utilities and concessions will be put to vote in IMCO on 24 January 2013. IMCO coordinators will decide at a later stage whether to open negotiations with the Council for a first-reading agreement or to submit the IMCO report to plenary.
Source : © European Union, 2012 - EP