SME NEEDS ANALYSIS IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT Final Report Written by t33 Srl February 2021 Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Directorate C — Investment Unit C.2 — Public Procurement Contact: Katharina Knapton-Vierlich E-mail: [email protected] European Commission B-1049 Brussels SME NEEDS ANALYSIS IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT SME NEEDS ANALYSIS IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT Final Report Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs 2021 EN Manuscript completed in February 2021 Written by Pietro Celotti, Michele Alessandrini, Alessandro Valenza, Clarissa Amichetti (t33) and Javier Fábregas, with contributions from Cristina Stronati and Paola Le Moglie (t33, public procurement practitioners), Alessandro Lucchetti (legal expert), Lorenzo Palego (t33, national expert for Italy), Jacqueline Brouwer (Reeleaf, national expert for the Netherlands), Jacek Kotrasinski and Tomasz Sokół (EPSEC, national experts for Poland), Liliana Lucaciu and Alexandra Baciu (LIDEEA, national experts for Romania), and Ulf Johansson (AdASTRA, national expert for Sweden). Language review by Timothy Wills. LEGAL NOTICE This document has been prepared for the European Commission however it reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Commission is not liable for any consequence stemming from the reuse of this publication. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://www.europa.eu). PDF ISBN 978-92-76-38214-0 doi: 10.2873/86199 ET-09-21-178-EN-N Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2021 © European Union, 2021 The reuse policy of European Commission documents is implemented by the Commission Decision 2011/833/EU of 12 December 2011 on the reuse of Commission documents (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39). Except otherwise noted, the reuse of this document is authorised under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This means that reuse is allowed provided appropriate credit is given and any changes are indicated. For any use or reproduction of elements that are not owned by the European Union, permission may need to be sought directly from the respective rightholders. SME NEEDS ANALYSIS IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT Table of Contents ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................ ……………7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................ 8 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 12 1. THE METHODOLOGY .................................................................................. 13 1.1. Overview .................................................................................................................. 13 1.2. Information collection ............................................................................................... 15 1.2.1. Quiz ............................................................................................................................. 15 1.2.2. Webinars rationale and structure ................................................................................. 16 1.2.3. Story selection and development ................................................................................. 18 1.3. Information analysis and formulation of actions ....................................................... 19 2. EXPLORING SMEs: ‘QUIZ’ RESULTS ........................................................ 22 2.1. Enterprise experience with PP ................................................................................. 22 2.2. Knowledge of PP ..................................................................................................... 23 2.2.1. Knowledge of PP principles ......................................................................................... 23 2.2.2. Knowledge of PP opportunities .................................................................................... 25 2.3. Summary of findings ................................................................................................ 28 3. MEETING SMEs, ASSOCIATIONS AND PUBLIC PROCURERS: RESULTS FROM THE WEBINARS .................................................................................................. 35 3.1. General SME barriers with PP ................................................................................. 35 3.2. Screening opportunities: TED ................................................................................. 38 3.2.1. Barriers........................................................................................................................ 39 3.2.2. Proposals for improvement .......................................................................................... 42 3.3. Selection criteria: dealing with requirements ........................................................... 44 3.3.1. Barriers........................................................................................................................ 44 3.3.2. Proposals for improvement .......................................................................................... 46 3.4. SMEs in PP: competitors or partners? .................................................................... 48 3.4.1. Barriers........................................................................................................................ 49 3.4.2. Proposals for improvement .......................................................................................... 50 4. TELLING SME EXPERIENCES: STORIES AND KEY MESSAGES ............ 52 4.1. Overview of SME characteristics ............................................................................. 52 4.2. Barriers and solutions .............................................................................................. 54 4.2.1. Barriers........................................................................................................................ 54 4.2.2. Proposals for improvement .......................................................................................... 57 4.3. The stories .............................................................................................................. 60 111 SME NEEDS ANALYSIS IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT 4.3.1. Italy ............................................................................................................................. 60 4.3.2. The Netherlands .......................................................................................................... 70 4.3.3. Poland ......................................................................................................................... 78 4.3.4. Romania ...................................................................................................................... 90 4.3.5. Sweden ....................................................................................................................... 97 5. IMPROVING SME ACCESS TO PP ............................................................ 115 5.1. Alignment with EC action ....................................................................................... 117 5.2. Key messages and narratives ............................................................................... 117 5.3. Actions to improve SME access to PP .................................................................. 129 5.3.1. Digital tools and communication ................................................................................ 132 5.3.2. Guidance and support for SMEs and public procurers ............................................... 136 5.3.3. Better implementation of PP directives principles ...................................................... 141 6. CONCLUSIONS AND SUBSEQUENT RESEARCH ................................... 143 6.1. Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 143 6.2. Subsequent research ............................................................................................ 144 Annex A - Quiz figures by enterprise categories ........................................... 145 Annex B - The ‘quiz’.......................................................................................... 150 Annex C – Questionnaires used in the training sessions ............................. 155 Annex D – Public procurers and SME associations involved in the interactive sessions and in the study circles .................................................................... 158 110 SME NEEDS ANALYSIS IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Full name CPV Common Procurement Vocabulary DIH Digital Innovation Hubs EEN European Enterprise Network EC European Commission ESPD European Single Procurement Document GDPR General Data Protection Regulation ICT Information and communication technology IoT Internet of Things KPIs Key Performance Indicators NACE Nomenclature statistique des activités économiques dans la Communauté européenne (Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community) PP Public Procurement SEDIA Single Electronic Data Interchange Area website SME Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise TED Tenders Electronic Daily platform ToR Terms of Reference 111 SME NEEDS ANALYSIS IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background Public