Dear ECEC Members,

A call for applications for an expert group on Public Procurement has been opened by the European Commission, which may be of interest to some of you.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR A NEW TERM FOR MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMISSION STAKEHOLDER EXPERT GROUP ON PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

Selection criteria

Individual members of the group (experts appointed in a personal capacity and experts representing a common interest), as well as the representatives of member organisations must be nationals of any Member State of the European Union or of an acceding country or of a country member of the European Economic Area.

DG GROW will take the following specific criteria into account when assessing applications for the three categories A, B and C:

Proven competence and a strong preference for at least 10 years of experience, at local, regional, national, European and/or international level, in one or more of the following areas of interest:

Extensive and hands-on experience with public procurement policies and/or processes. This may include, for instance: handling a variety of large-scale and/or complex procurement projects; drafting, negotiating, and/or managing contracts; designing and managing procurement projects aiming at the achievement of specific innovation, sustainability or social impact; identifying and mitigating risks associated with procurement activities; experience and activities demonstrating a deep understanding of regulatory and strategic aspects of public procurement; developing and implementing procurement strategies aligning with organizational goals and public policy objectives (in particular innovation, sustainability, positive social impact); developing and/or implementing organisational strategies to improve procurement processes; developing and/or implementing aggregation strategies in a procurement system.

Experience with analysing market dynamics and market trends, supplier capabilities, and industry-specific challenges, in the field of public procurement.

Experience in bidding for public contracts and understanding of the supplier side of procurement processes. This could include proven experience with regulatory requirements from the perspective of the supplier. Experience with cross-border procurement will be considered an asset.

− Experience in researching public procurement systems and analysing their performance, policies and outcomes, with the goal to provide theoretical and evidence-based insights, recommendations to improve and innovate the system.

− Experience in strategic budgeting and financial management aspects of procurement to provide insights into cost-saving opportunities and efficiency improvements.

− Experience in setting up and/or implementing strategies and tools to monitor public procurement processes. This could include data collection and analysis, and digitalisation aspects.

− Experience in setting up and/or implementing solutions to professionalise public buyers and support them in their tasks. This includes e.g. developing and implementing training programs, support tools (helpdesks, buyers’ groups, fora and platforms, guidelines, manuals, market dialogue events etc).

Proven experience in two or more of the above domains will be considered an advantage.

Absence of circumstances that could give rise to a conflict of interest (individuals applying to be appointed in a personal capacity only);

Proven capacity to represent effectively the position shared by stakeholders (individuals applying to be appointed in order to represent a common interest only);

Competence, experience and hierarchical level of the proposed representatives (organisations only);

Good knowledge of the English language allowing active participation in the discussions (individual applicants and organisations' representatives).