1. PRIMES Introduction into Joint Public Procurement
Presented by

2. Overview What is joint procurement?
Joint procurement in the Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement
International/Cross-border joint procurement actions and their challenges
Benefits of joint procurements
Benefits of joint green/sustainable public procurement
Joint GPP in pratice (relevant case studies)
Image copyright: Unsplash, Creative Commons Zero

3. What is Joint Public Procurement (JP)?
Two or more contracting authorities agree to perform certain specific procurements jointly.
Joint procurement can take several different forms.
From coordinated procurement through the preparation of common technical specifications for works, supply or that will be procured by a number of contracting entities, each conducting a separate procurement procedure, to situations where the contracting entities jointly conduct one procurement procedure.
Joint procurement actions might be performed:
among contracting authorities within the same country
as international/cross-border joint procurement among contracting authorities from different countries
Image copyright: Unsplash, Creative Commons Zero
Note to the slide:
One definition is according to the EC Green Public Procurement (GPP) Training Toolkit - Module 1: Managing GPP Implementation – Factsheet on Joint Procurement: “Joint procurement” (JP) means combining the procurement actions of two or more contracting authorities:
Referred definition in the text above is according to the UK Statutory Instruments No The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 Article Occasional Joint Procurement.
Image copyright: Unsplash, Creative Commons Zero

4. Joint Procurement in the Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement (1)
Article 38. Occasional joint procurement :
“Two or more contracting authorities may agree to perform certain specific procurements jointly.”
The Directive allows contracting authorities to carry out joint procurement (in case certain conditions are met).
As the recital refers certain features of the of the joint procurement should be clarified because joint procurement plays an important role.
Note to the slide:
Both the Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement and the Directive 2014/25/EU on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport, and postal services sector refers to Occasional Joint Procurements. Both Directives provide very similar rules in relation to joint procurement actions. However, taking into account that the main aim of this presentation is to provide additional reference document for the PRIMES project the slides of the presentation are referring only to the 2014/24/EU Directive.

5. Joint Procurement in the Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement (2) – Responsibilities
I. Contracting authorities are jointly conducting procurement procedure:
Procurement procedure in its entirely could be carried out jointly in the name and on behalf of all contracting authorities concerned or
Joint procurements could be conducted in a way that one contracting authority manages the procedure on its own behalf and on behalf of the other authorities.
In both cases the contracting authorities are jointly responsible for fulfilling their obligations.
II. In case only parts of the procurement procedure are jointly conducted, joint responsibility should apply to those parts of the procedure that have been carried out together by the contracting authorities. Contracting authorities should be solely responsible in respect of procedures or parts of procedures conducted on their own (i.e. awarding the contract, conclusion of framework agreement etc.)
Note to the slide:
Two possibilities could be distinguished in the cases when the contracting authorities jointly conduct one procurement procedure:
The participating contracting authorities acting as part of a consortium or
The participating authorities entrusting one of the authority as managing authority that one acts on behalf of all the other authorities.
Note that setting up a consortium is an option and not a mandatory rule.

6. Cross-border Joint Procurement – Joint awarding of public contracts
Both Directives (2004/18/EC and 2014/24/EU) allow the conduction of cross-border joint public procurement but there are several legal and practical challenges related to the implementation of such actions.
As cross-border JP we define situations where two or more contracting authorities from different Member States are jointly purchasing works, supplies or services through one tendering procedure.
Main legal challenges: different experience among the Member States, the question of applicable law, question of jurisdiction, civil law or administrative law, relation between national law and EU law
Note to the slide:
Some countries like UK and Sweden are more experienced in joint procurements whereas other countries specially southern countries are having less experience in this field.
For more information on cross border joint procurements and joint procurements in general please see some previous relevant projects: Pro-EE and LEEP projects:

7. Benefits of Joint procurements
Administrative benefits: lower administrative costs of the procedure (more effective procedures as separate tenders)
Financial benefits: Lower tender prices might expected due to the higher quantities purchased (benefits of acting as a “buyer group”)
Competency related benefits: contracting authorities can benefit from each other's procurement expertise and competences. This could be particularly relevant when procuring innovation, R&D services.
Note to the slide:
These above arguments are related to joint procurement actions in general although when it comes to GPP/SPP procedures we might consider different other benefits. As the main aim of PRIMES project is to provide hands-on support for public purchasers to overcome barriers and implement GPP a separate slide is listing all benefits of JP actions when it comes to encouraging the market for more environmentally sound products and services.

8. Entry door for introducing sustainable procurement
Benefits of Joint procurements – encouraging the market for more environmentally sound products and services
Entry door for introducing sustainable procurement
Launching more environmentally innovative solutions
Reducing the price of environmentally sound products and services
Introducing new products into the national markets
JP can help promote greater standardization
JP can encourage suppliers to develop new products
Note to the slide:
Benefits listed above are based on the Factsheet – Joint Procurement, GPP Training Toolkit Module 1. – Managing GPP Implementation, Toolkit developed for the European Commission by ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, 2008
PRIMES project aims to build capacity for GPP at regional and local level therefore the demonstration of benefits of joint actions related to environmentally sound products and services has particular relevance.

9. Types of Joint Procurement actions
Permanent JP organisation: providing centralised procurement function on behalf of the contracting authorities (CAs):
Latvia: State Development Regional Agency
Denmark: Ministry of Finance
Italy: Consip
Sweden: SKL Commentus Inköpscentral and The National Agency for Public Procurement
Croatia: State Office for the Central Public Procurement
Collaborative agreements between the CAs: no need to set up permanent organisation, CAs may collaborate via groups (i.e. London Contract and Supplies Group - LCSG )
CAs collaborating as one-off procurement action
Important to note that the key actors of the PRIMES project are: participating partners and municipalities, central purchasing bodies in the partner countries, national twinning partners located outside the target groups.
Image copyright: Unsplash, Creative Commons Zero

10. Initiating Joint Procurement activity
Internal/Organisational actions
Involving all relevant departments i.e. environmental, procurement, legal departments
Benefits of JP has to be promoted to convince the stakeholders
Importance of selecting the right product
Internal workflow/templates have to be clarified
External actions – finding partners
Other CA can be approached i.e. by direct contact, public authorities networks, associations
Meeting between the partners: lead outlines the procedure, show some good examples, preliminary market research can be carried out
CAs may form a formal consortium (consortium agreement)
Note to the slide:
2 main models of joint procurement actions:
full joint procurement – close involvement of all participants, lead authority is responsible for the actions. Offer the possibility of bulk buying. Case study: Municipality of Amaroussion Development Company, Kalithea – Rhodes Sustainability Non Profit Municipal Company and the Municipal Enterprise of Holargos organised a joint procurement (JP) of recycled paper
Piggy-backing model – one contracting authority carries out the procurement but other authorities can utilize the contract, does not offer the advantages of bulk buying. Case study: Joint Procurement of TFT Monitors in the UK 
For case studies please see the following project:

11. Case Study: Joint Procurement of Electric Vehicles in Stockholm
Joint Procurement of 296 organizations
(260 public, 36 private)led by Stockholm
Subject of the framework contract: purchasing of electric vehicles
Estimated purchase volume of 1,250 vehicles / year, over 4 years of the framework
Reason for joint procurement: reducing administrative costs, achieving price reduction, send a strong signal to the market, ensuring the participation of smaller municipalities
Two separate contracts have been tendered one for the public organizations, one for the private ones
Note to the slide:
Please see further information and for the whole case study:
Image copyright: Unsplash, Creative Commons Zero

12. Case Study: Joint Public Procurement under the PRIMES project – Bourg en Bresse, France
French municipality Bourg en Bresse together with 5 other municipalities carried our joint procurement for a gas supply contract with a share of 1% to 3% biogas.
The joint procurement authorized its suppliers to propose variants compared to fossil offer
The procedure was an EU level open procedure for supply framework contract
The first successful green gas procurement in France
Crucial point of the pre procurement stage was to convince the policy makers of the different municipalities to procure bio-gas. Apart from this before the procurement regional meetings have been carried out among the contracting authorities and the interested energy producers.
The joint procurement is featured as one of the PRIMES case study and can be available for further information under:

13. List of references Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement
Directive 2014/25/EU on procurement by entities
operating in the water, energy, transport, and postal services sector
EC Report on Cross-border Procurement: es/cross-border-procurement_en.pdf
LEAP GPP Project Modules: toolkit.org/fileadmin/template/leap/user_uploads/295FG_Tool_D.pd
Factsheet – Joint Procurement, GPP Training Toolkit Module 1. – Managing GPP Implementation: Toolkit developed for the European Commission by ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, 2008
UK Statutory Instruments No The Public Contracts Regulations Article Occasional Joint Procurement
GPP website:
Image copyright: Unsplash, Creative Commons Zero