Quality requirements are strong in Danish EU tenders, but quality rarely means environment and climate – Tender365
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«Lowest price» and weighting of price are no winners in Danish EU announcements. It shows recent statistics. In two out of three Danish EU announcements in 2020, “economically most advantageous” was the preferred award criterion, and quality was weighted by an average of 65%. Less than 4% of clients weighted quality lower than 30%, while close to one in four clients weighted quality 70% or more. But quality rarely means environment and climate, it is most often said that demands are made on how to solve the task.
It appears from the report «Status of public competition 2021» from the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority that the public sector in Denmark’s annual buyer for about 300 billion. The figures or in the report are taken from 2020 specifically, except in the case of announcements related to covid19. This applies to both 2020 and 2021. The overview shows that during the period there were 46 declarations of intent above the EU threshold values which were in some way related to the pandemic. Mostly it was about items of the type respirators and disinfection equipment.
Of the almost 2,700 Danish EU announcements in 2020, just over 29% came from municipalities and 14% from government agencies, the rest from the region (the Danish county municipalities). Half of the announcement concerned services. The clients received an average of 4.2 offers in their competitions – unchanged from 2019. In four out of ten competitions, there were only one or two offers, down from 44% in 2019.
Municipal competition exhibition
Nor has the scope of the municipality’s competition exhibition changed if one compares 2020 with 2019. It is still a little over 25%. 61 of the municipalities were less exposed to competition last year, while 37 municipalities may point to an increase. And it is the case that municipalities, which from before exposed a little to competition, are among those who in 2020 cut further in its competition exhibition. Conversely, the municipalities most exposed to competition in 2019 experienced an increase in 2020. A municipality – Gribskov – exposes more than half of its municipal tasks to competition.
In Denmark, competition with negotiations, competitive dialogue and innovation partnership are called flexible procurement procedures. In 2015, the proportion of such procedures in use was 11%, in 2020 22%. Dynamic purchasing systems are also increasingly in use in Denmark. In 2015, two such were created, in 2020 50. Three out of four apply to municipal procurement and in almost 43% it is services that are sought after.
Framework agreements
Framework agreements in 2020 accounted for just over 46% of all Danish EU announcements and 55% of the total contract amount. Well over half of the framework agreements in 2019/2020 were entered into with one supplier, 17% with more. When there are several on a framework agreement, it is on average with 4.2 suppliers, according to the status report. It is just in just over 12% of the framework agreement with several suppliers that the contract is awarded via a mini-competition.
Just over 31% of all framework agreement competitions in the first three quarters of 2020 were canceled. Similarly, the figure for canceled competitions was otherwise 16%. Although the number for the whole of 2020 was available when the report was not produced, the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority believes that the number for the whole of 2020 will be on a par with the same in 2019.
Quality and price
In two out of three Danish EU announcements in 2020, “economically most advantageous” was used as an award criterion. For the rest of the announcement, the “low price” was the basis. It is, it is said, different low in the European context. Figures from 31 European countries show that the «lowest price» is used in 58% of EU announcements.
When «economically most advantageous» is used, quality is weighted on average by approx. 65% Less than 4% of the clients weight quality lower than 30%, while almost every fourth client weighs quality 70% or more. In essence, according to a study conducted by the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, a quality criterion is most often about how to offer loose tasks that are out to tender. Environment and climate are used in just over 4% of the sub-criterion under quality.