The Hague, the Netherlands, 15 July 2015
The Independent Regulators’ Group ‐ Rail (IRG-Rail) has adopted a position paper on the Dutch proposal for performance-based direct awarding of public service contracts.
Henk Don, chair of IRG-Rail, explains: „IRG Rail reiterates that it is a proponent of competitive tendering. Direct awarding of concessions is second best. However, if the Council and the European Parliament wish to proceed with performance-based direct awarding, they need to make sure that the approach is not misused, and that it leads to real efficiency improvements.“
In the position paper, the IRG-Rail stresses that the procedure for direct awarding should be transparent and properly focused on improving efficiency. Furthermore, appropriate supervision is necessary to ensure a fair and complete assessment by the awarding authority. Also, some sort of corrective mechanism is needed to challenge the assessment. This should be safeguarded by a proper sanctioning mechanism.
Note to editors:
- The IRG-Rail is a network currently comprising independent rail Regulatory Bodies from twenty-five European countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
- Further information can be found on the website of the IRG-Rail at www.irg-rail.eu