The law currently says tenders may be accelerated only for “reasons of urgency,” which are not due to the contracting authority’s actions or lack of actions, or to administrative errors. The period between the dispatch of the contract notice and offer submission may be reduced to 15 days from 37.
A government document says public institutions will be allowed to run quicker restricted tenders and negotiations for various operations, like taking a loan to complete projects financed from European Union funds. In this case, the procedure would be justified to avoid a reduction of the pre-financing share of EU contracts, from 30% to 10%, which could prevent the institution from paying the contractors.
Restricted tenders may also be used to contract consultancy services for a project already underway, or to obtain financing for local public investments.
The change is needed to “prevent possible financial corrections from the European Commission,” says the document.
When deciding to accelerate a restricted tender, the contracting authority must take into account the project’s complexity and amount of paperwork needed, so as not to be “a major obstacle” in receiving offers from a sufficient number of suppliers.