New European Commission guidance - help to spot risks and avoid 'school boy' public procurement errors

Anyone involved in a project which benefits from European Structural and Investment Funds ought to be aware of the risks of failing to fully comply with European procurement rules when purchasing works, goods or services for the project. These projects are frequently subject to rigorous audit and, where evidence of procurement non-compliance is identified, the European Commission takes a very strict approach. Aside from any potential risk of challenge from suppliers, the Commission can also require a financial correction (i.e. repayment) of up to 100% of the EU funds originally granted (together with interest on this amount). This is the case whether or not the funds have already been spent. Where the original EU grant is significant (often ?millions) facing a 100% financial correction will not be good news!

In the light of these risks, based on its experience of past audits, the European Commission has identified some of the most common 'school boy' procurement errors that have been made and which have resulted in a financial correction. These are included in its recently produced guidance for practitioners. The guidance has been developed to help practitioners steer a safe and lawful path through the public procurement maze.

Working through the main stages in any procurement life cycle, the guidance uses traffic light symbols to highlight 'risk of errors' and 'guidance on steps to help achieve compliance / good practice'.

It also includes some helpful checklists which can be used as a procurement progresses to check compliance at each stage.

Whilst designed specifically with EU funded projects in mind, the guidance is equally relevant to any procurement which is subject to the EU procurement rules (in the UK the Public Contracts Regulations 2015) and is well worth a look. Details of the guidance are available here.

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