8. Country: Italy Major organisation of procurement at the national level Ministry of Economy and Finance Public Works Authority Legal supervision of public contracts Binding opinion on public works contracts. Opinion in other public procurement contracts when asked. CONSIP SpA Central organisation of procurements through framework contracts Binding price and quality benchmarks, arose from the frame contracts. Selectively binding frame CNIPA Technical and economic consulting on ICTs Compulsory technical and economic advices on procurement of ICTs National (ministries and public services) and Local (regions and municipalities) Administration Decentralised procedures with independent procuring agencies and rules The organisation of the public procurement in Italy is decentralised. Practically every public agency and regional authority follows its own purchasing code although there are some centralised elements such as Consip s price and quality benchmarks, CNIPA s economic and technical instructions and Public Works Authority s legal supervision over public works contracts and in some cases over other public procurement contracts. The tendering procedure, in most of the cases, remains under the responsibility of the individual procuring authorities. The national procurement system, during the last decade has been subject to continuous changes especially as far as the role of Consip is concerned. Major responsible institution(s) for procurement on the national level and their function: 1. Consip S.p.A. [http://www.consip.it] Consip is a joint-stock company totally and directly owned by the Italian Ministry of the Economy and Finance (MEF). Consip as a central procuring agency executes three main operations: Price and quality benchmarks, arising from extensive market researches and the procurements implemented by Consip, through framework contracts. 1
These benchmarks are valid as long as the framework contract is being executed. All procuring public authorities are obliged to respect these benchmarks, meaning that they cannot proceed to purchases that their price exceeds the benchmark corresponding to a certain level of quality. Framework contracts, usually binding for the central administration (ministries and central public services) and optional for the rest of the public sector. Framework contracts is a solution selected for the grouping of purchasing needs and may be either directly order ordered by the government or proposed by Consip in areas where market analysis has shown a prosperous field for the centralization of the procurement. Provision of technical assistance for the implementation of individual procurements by public agencies. Consip is also in charge of implementing the Rationalization Program on Public Spending for goods and services through the application of information technology and innovative purchasing methods. The main objective of the Program is to guarantee the efficiency and transparency of procurement processes, to ensure adequate quality of purchases made by the public administrations at competitive prices and to support the administrations in the implementation of specific initiatives on procurement. To reach the above objectives Consip uses e-procurement tools (e- Marketplace, e-shops) and develops frame contracts through European-wide tenders (conventional or on-line). With the frame contracts, which specify the maximum amount of the purchase, selected suppliers commit themselves to accept orders coming from all public administrations (central and local, including health units and universities). Bureaucracy is significantly reduced replacing the whole procurement process (market research, preparation of tendering documents, public tender activities undertaken only once by Consip) with a simple order sent on-line or via fax by each administration for each procurement. One other way of proceeding is by Consip preparing the entire tendering material and the technical specifications following extensive studies and market research on behalf of public bodies requesting technical assistance for the implementation of an individual procurement. Alternatively, public bodies, whenever they decide to run their own tenders, they are obliged to achieve at least the Consip specified price and quality benchmarks. Innovation is included in the mission of Consip especially as far as the diffusion of ICTs and process innovations in the procurement systems of the public sector. Additionally, when preparing frame contracts, Consip experts may ideally seek to promote innovative purchases for cost saving purposes (but there is no evidence of a systematic pursuit of this mission). 2
Consip Price and quality benchmarks Framework contracts Provision of technical assistance Request of technical assistance Local administrations Central administrations Health system units Education system units Mandatory operations Non mandatory operations 2. Public Works Authority (http://www.autoritalavoripubblici.it/) The Public Works Authority (PWA) (Autorita per la vigilanza sui lavori pubblici) is an independent body established in 1999 for the legal supervision of public works and engineering services. The role of the PWA is to diffuse and supervise the proper implementation of the effective regulation by the public authorities and the contractors. Soon its authority will be expanded to the entire public procurement system, as, with the adoption of the New EU Directives, is going to undertake the role of the central legal supervisor in all public contracts, including Consip s framework contracts. 3. Italian National Centre for the Information Systems in the Public Sector (CNIPA) (http://www.cnipa.gov.it/site/it-it/) CNIPA (Centro Nazionale per l informatica nella Pubblica Amministrazione) is an agency responsible to spread throughout the Public Administration (central and regional) the effective use of new technologies and methodologies. CNIPA offers compulsory technical and economic instructions to the public sector regarding the procurement of ICT products and services. 4. Local Administrations (Regions, Municipalities) Local and regional administrations are authorized to manage procurement either through Consip or internally, respecting the price and quality benchmarks of the Consip (whenever they exist). In addition regional authorities have some degrees of freedom in establishing independent procurement rules using their legislative power provided they respect the European and National law. 3
Major documents: are there guidelines, toolkits etc. that have an impact on the role of innovation in procurement? (please provide http-link if possible) The Italian government has incorporated the European directives 93/36/CEE, 92/50/ CEE, 97/52/CEE, 93/38/CEE and 98/4/CE on public procurement in national law. The Law 488/1999 on the rationalisation of the public purchases of goods and services by the public administration (La razionalizzazione degli acquisti di beni e servizi delle Pubbliche Amministrazioni) is the key legal document for the organisation and administration of public procurement. Among other things it foresees the establishment of CONSIP, as a central procurement organisation, which is also responsible for the development of e-procurement. The Law no. 10/2002 implements EC Directive no. 1999/93/CE on electronic signature. The Presidential Decrees no. 513/1997 and no. 445/2000 provide a legal framework on administrative electronic documents. The Presidential Decree no. 101/2002 provides for a regulation on electronic procedures for purchasing of goods and services with specific reference to e- auction and marketplace system. The Law no. 10/1991, imposes energy saving solutions to the public administration, where these prove cost-effective and technically feasible (Article 26, comma 7). Does innovation play a role somehow in the documents? Innovation plays some role in the above documents especially as far as process innovation and electronic applications in the procurement system are concerned. 1. The law 488/1999 promotes innovation in the whole framework of public procurement practices (in terms of rules, tools, etc.). 2. The Presidential Decree no. 101/2002 aims at simplifying and rationalising the procurement procedure, exploiting the advantages of electronic tools. 3. The Law no. 10/1991 refers to a specific product innovation policy. Any principles of procurement as they relate to innovation? Public procurement policy is not formally linked with national innovation policy. However, public procurement policy promotes innovation in the procurement practices. Ad hoc innovative solutions exist both at the central and local level. Any recent structural changes? The major structural change in the national procurement system was the creation of 4
Consip, in 1999, that led to the re-organisation of the procurement process, especially for the central public administration. The detailed role and organisation of Consip as a central procuring agency have changed several times during the last decade. Any reactions to the EU directive (does it make a difference)? The new EU public procurement directives are expected to be implemented by the end of 2005. Further comments Although innovation does not directly play any role in the official procurement framework the key organisations such as the Consip, the Public Works Authority and the CNIPA place some emphasis to the selection of innovative solutions mainly for cost saving purposes but (occasionally) not only for this. Innovation often plays a role within the Consip's frame contracts. Innovative solutions are often required as in the case of the procurement of services, where by means of a centralised contract process innovation is required in management and monitoring operations, as well as in data gathering to improve the quality of the supplied service. 5