Events

2019 EUDA Annual Conference at Stanhope Hotel Brussels“SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT OF WATERBORNE INFRASTRUCTURES”

Public procurement is the process by which public authorities, national, regional and local, purchase from companies work, goods or services at all stages of a project. In total, public procurement accounts for 15-20% of global GDP and represents a substantial portion of the EU economy and the economies of many countries around the world.

Transport infrastructures, including waterborne infrastructures represent a significant portion of public procurement. The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), for instance, which is a key EU funding instrument for investing in infrastructures, has allocated €23.7 billion out of €30.4 billion for Transport infrastructures.

Progressively, in addition to the primary function to be procured, public authorities introduce in their public tenders specific requirements that aim at reducing environmental impact throughout the life-cycle of their procured goods, services and works. This process can be qualified as Sustainable Public Procurement, when additionally to purchasing work, goods or services, it also seeks to achieve the appropriate balance between the three pillars of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental).

Moreover, a key dimension in this approach is the sustainable financing of the public authority, which, if overlooked, opens the gates to an unsustainable debt trap. There is more and more evidence that the unfair tied financing practices by State-owned Enterprises (SoEs) from third countries are closing down dredging markets around the world. In Europe, non-EU heavily subsidised SoEs have unchallenged access to European public procurement markets.

Well-designed requirements for Sustainable Public Procurement provide the opportunity to effectively improve the level playing field inside and outside Europe as well as focus on the quality of the infrastructures, long-term value for money and lifecycle costs (rather than price only). With their long-term investment in technology and novel approaches, such as Building with Nature, European Dredgers can provide significant added value to the economy, ecology and society when executing waterborne infrastructure projects and would like to jointly reflect on how to possibly shape requirements on sustainability in public tenders to provide a better level playing field and long-term added value.

Speakers from the European Commission, the European Investment Bank and the Dutch administration will present the points of views of the policy, funding and implementation sides through their respective strategies on sustainable public procurement. After an inspirational closing keynote address by Former European Commissioner for Trade, Mr Karel de Gucht, the floor will be opened for an open discussion.

Programme Overview:

09:30 – 10:00 Registration
10:00 – 12:00 Conference
12:00 – 12:30 Cocktail
12:30 – 13:30 Networking Luncheon
14:00 – 16:00 EuDA Annual General Meeting (for Members only)

Conference Overview:

Moderation:

• Mr Paris Sansoglou
European Dredging Association
Secretary General

Speakers:

• Mrs Anna Lupi Presentation
European Commission – DG GROW
Policy Officer in Public Procurement Strategy Unit
European Commission’s Strategy for Sustainable Public Procurement

• Oshani Perera Presentation
International Institute for Sustainable Development
Director, Public Procurement and Infrastructure Finance Programme
IISD’s Strategy for Sustainable Public Procurement

• Mr Maarten Neelis Presentation
Rijkswaterstaat (The Netherlands)
Strategic Adviser on Sustainable Habitat
Dutch Strategy for Sustainable Public Procurement

Closing Keynote Address:

• Mr Karel de Gucht Presentation
Former European Commissioner for Trade

View the Conference Messages, the Conference Programme in detail

and the Conference Attendance List.