An environment for efficient and transparent public procurement (CZ0047)

Brief Description of the Commitment

Strengthening the attractiveness, efficiency, legal certainty and transparency of public procurement in the Czech Republic. This commitment includes the implementation of an electronic environment for public procurement that will be more automated and provide machine-accessible data. This data will improve the quality of management and overall transparency from the perspective of the public and suppliers.

1. What problem does the commitment aim to address?

The commitment addresses several key issues in public procurement. Currently, public procurement is dominated by the single criterion of lowest price, which does not take into account the quality or lifetime costs of the goods, works or services purchased. This approach also fails to utilize the potential of sustainable procurement, which could have a significant environmental impact, and makes it difficult for companies offering innovative solutions to enter the market. Another problem is the fragmentation and inconsistency of the legal environment (which is, for example, also created by special subsidy rules and the legal regulation in which contracting authorities and control bodies operate) in which controls and supervision of public procurement take place, which may lead to inconsistent interpretation of Act No. 134/2016 Coll., on public procurement and to concerns of contracting authorities about the use of more progressive evaluation methods. Thus, contracting authorities primarily use the procedures that are most likely to be accepted by all control and supervisory authorities. Certified electronic procurement tools are not linked to the registers through which suppliers prove their qualifications. Suppliers are thus forced to ask for data already held by the State, which increases the administrative burden. In addition, the currently machine-accessible data on public procurement do not comply with the requirements of Decree No. 345/2023 Coll., on the publication of forms for the purposes of the act on public procurement and on the requisites of the contracting authority profile, which worsens the quality of management and overall transparency from the perspective of the public and of suppliers. It also makes it difficult to change the contracting authority profile without data transfer problems.

2. What are the causes of the problem?

In general, public procurement in the Czech Republic focuses primarily on the procedural side of things. However, alongside the emphasis on procedural correctness, it is necessary to focus more on obtaining the best value for money and responding in a healthy way to the challenges of the new era. Unified methodological environment for contracting authorities where they could gain practical experience and information on modern ways of implementing public procurement is absent. Electronic tools are currently not linked to the relevant registers, which means that there is no environment that would centrally collect information on public procurement implemented in certified electronic tools. This complicates the production of outputs for effective management decision-making and the transfer of data from one contracting authority profile to another.

Commitment Description

1. What has been done so far to solve the problem? So far, this problem has been addressed by partial activities within the framework of projects to promote responsible public procurement by the MLSA, but this approach has not been comprehensive. Therefore, the Ministry of Regional Development has proceeded to elaborate the National Strategy for Public Procurement (hereinafter also referred to as the "Strategy"), which is the first conceptual material that sets out a vision across all topics that determine the area of public procurement. Suppliers shall prove their qualifications by means of documents obtained from the competent public authorities and are entered into electronic tools. Data are collected from several information systems. When changing the contracting authority profile, contracting authorities use two profiles or export procurement information from the original profile to the new one.

2. What solution are you proposing?

The solution focuses on the introduction of uniform and comprehensible guidelines and recommendations in the implementation of public procurement for both contracting authorities and suppliers, on the promotion of sustainable procurement with minimum standards of environmental and social sustainability, on the strengthening of professionalization in public procurement and on the centralization of purchasing. These measures aim to increase the efficiency, transparency and innovativeness of public procurement in the Czech Republic. The measures will be implemented through the Strategy, see https://mmr.gov.cz/getmedia/fd12c1a1-7b37-40fb-9a8f1248ea12998a/NSVZ_STRATEGIE_tisk.pdf.aspx?ext=.pdf. Measures related to electronic tools include the creation of a single environment for collecting procurement data from certified electronic tools, which would be linked to the registers through which suppliers prove their qualifications. The measures are financed by the National Recovery Plan. Component 4.1 Systemic support for public investment, Sub-component 2 Methodological support and modernisation of public investment, Project Methodological support and modernization of public procurement - Financial amount of support - CZK 117 987 200,00 without VAT. Component 1.1, 1.2 and 4.4 Development of digitalization in public procurement (National Electronic Tool, Public Procurement Bulletin, List of Qualified Suppliers) - Financial amount of support - CZK 100 000 000,- excluding VAT.

3. What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment?

The aim of implementing the Strategy's measures is to make public procurement more efficient, to increase transparency, digitization and data availability in public procurement, to take into account quality, to support innovation and the overall social benefit and sustainability of public procurement, to use non-financial criteria by setting minimum standards for environmental and social sustainability of public procurement for commodities usually procured by the public sector, strengthening the professionalization of public procurement, to promote the centralization of purchasing and methodological support to procurers of commonly procured public contracts as well as to procurers of strategically important investments, and to promote the coordination of control and supervisory bodies to reduce duplication and inconsistencies. Increased efficiency in proving the basic qualification of the supplier and working with data from certified electronic tools will not only allow more efficient work with data on public procurement but will also allow contracting authorities to change the profile of the contracting authority without significant administrative or financial burden.

1. How will the commitment promote transparency? How will it help improve citizens' access to information and data? How will it make Government more transparent to citizens?
The commitment promotes transparency by introducing uniform and comprehensible rules, by digitizing and automating processes, and by providing machine-accessible data. This will enable more efficient management and increase public control over public procurement.

2. How will the commitment help foster accountability? How will it help public agencies become more accountable to the public? How will it facilitate citizens’ ability to learn how the implementation is progressing? How will it support transparent monitoring and evaluation systems?
The commitment will help strengthen the accountability of public institutions by introducing consistent and clear rules that increase transparency and predictability of processes. The digitization and automation of public procurement will allow for better tracking and control of data, increasing public scrutiny and pressure for accountable behavior by contracting authorities. This will improve the quality of management and strengthen public trust in public institutions.

3. How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions? How will it proactively engage citizens and citizen groups?
By streamlining the electronic environment for public procurement, which will be more automated and provide machine-accessible data, it will be possible to involve citizens and citizen groups in public scrutiny of public procurement. Transparency and accessibility of public procurement data will allow citizens to monitor and control procurement processes, thereby strengthening the accountability of contracting authorities.

Milestones | Expected Outputs | Expected Completion Date |

End of the project part of the implementatio n of the National Strategy for Public Procurement in the Czech Republic for the period 2024-2028. | Measures are proposed (see description above) through which the objectives will be met. The proposed measures are formulated in relation to the National Public Procurement Strategy here: https://mmr.gov.cz/getmed ia/fd12c1a1-7b37-40fb9a8f1248ea12998a/NSVZ_ST RATEGIE_tisk.pdf.aspx?e xt=.pdf, both for the individual priorities of the Strategy and in summary in section 10.2 of the Strategy - Timetable, and through which the objectives will be met. | 30. 6. 2026

Approval of the Sustainable Purchasing Action Plan | The outcome will be in the form of minimum standards for responsible public procurement with the aim of strategically using the influence that contracting authorities can exert with their purchasing power in the market. The public administration is responsible for the efficient use of public funds (3E principle), but it is equally responsible for compliance with the principles of socially responsible procurement, environmentally responsible procurement and innovation (Article 6(4) of Act No. 134/2016 Coll. on Public Procurement in conjunction with Article 28(1)(p) to (r) of the same Act). Therefore, the Sustainable Purchasing Action Plan should be a binding instrument to help contracting authorities to implement social and environmental aspects in public procurement, so that they become standard and are systematically used in all public procurement where appropriate | 1Q 2025

Creating a unified environment for collecting data from certified electronic tools. Linking the single environment to registers. | Creation of an environment for data collection in the form of a public procurement register. This register will aggregate data from both the Public Procurement Bulletin and from individual certified electronic tools, creating a single data base that will provide better quality data covering a significant part of the public procurement market. The possibility to demonstrate qualification within the certified electronic tools in an automated way, with the basic registers being accessible to contracting authorities through contracting authority profiles. The NIPEZ project will create a single authentication and authorization for all modules, which will share data from the basic and other national registers to which NIPEZ will be linked, thus fulfilling the Once only principle, and the contracting authority will no longer have to submit individual documents. | 1. 7. 2026