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Governments pay for some services people get.
For example: hospitals, schools, This means that governments choose Often, governments the cheapest services There is a new European law. This law says governments should pay for services |
A public hearing on the new Public Procurement Directive was hosted by MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen and MEP Nils Torvalds at the European Parliament on 13 November. The renewed legislation recognises the particularity of social services and guarantees wider autonomy to Member States to decide on the organisation and financing on social services.
The event organised by the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) brought together service-providers and the representatives of the European Commission. Concetta Cultrera and Paola Zanetti from the European Commission made clear that the directive gives a possibility to Member States to consider how they wish to organise social services. Member States can decide on the criteria for the tenders. The directive says that not only price should be considered in the competition, but also quality of services and user-involvement.
Valentina Caimi from Social Platform and Franz Wolfmayr from EASPD evaluated this revised legislation positively, stating that many expectations of social NGOs and service-providers were met in the Directive. “The implementation of the past directive had negative consequences for services, due to the importance given to cost over quality and to the lack of continuity in funding, which undermined the sustainability of services and the quality of employment in the sector.” said Franz Wolfmayr, EASDP President, “For this reason the recognition of the specificities of social services and the wider autonomy granted to Member States is a great achievement for our sector.”
However, the representatives said they are concerned about how the directive will be implemented in Member States. Countries will have now opportunity to reflect on how they provide social services, not considering the price as the only criterion. However, the participants at the hearing regretted that the directive offers this as a possibility to the Member States, not as an obligation.
The organisations’ representatives stressed their concern also about the Article 76 on reserved contracts, which sets a maximum 3 years duration for reserved contracts. This may have a negative effect on the continuity and quality of social services.
The European Commission expects the new directive to enter into force in February or early March 2014, giving the Member States two years transition period for its implementation.
