Quality of tender documents

Businesses not taking part in a public tender or public procurement procedure because of unclear selection or evaluation criteria, non-objective criteria, or burdensome procedures (%)

Analysis of survey responses from a sample of businesses to the following survey question: “In the past three years, has your company decided not to take part in a public tender or a public procurement procedure?” Assessors measure the percentage of businesses that stated that they decided not to take part in a public tender or a public procurement procedure in the past three years, for any of the following reasons: a) unclear selection or evaluation criteria; b) the criteria seemed to be tailor made for certain participants; or c) the procedure seemed too bureaucratic or burdensome. Answer options are: “The deadline for submitting the bids were too tight and impossible to meet”, “The deal seemed to have been sealed before the tender was published”, “The criteria seemed to be tailor-made for certain participants”, “The evaluation criteria were unclear”, “The procedure seemed too bureaucratic or burdensome”, “Other (please, specify)”, “Do not know”. Points are allocated based on the percentage of respondents who replied that they did not participate in a public tender or a public procurement procedure because of unclear selection or evaluation criteria, non-objective criteria, or burdensome procedures (x). The survey item with the highest percentage is used for point allocation: • x > 90% = 0 points. • 90% ≥ x > 10% = linear function. • x ≤ 10% = 3 points.

Tender documents amended after initial publication (%)

Analysis of administrative data in the last full calendar year to calculate the number of competitive procedures where tender documents have been amended after initial publication and before the deadline for submission of tenders, divided by the total number of competitive procedures in the same year, whether above or below the EU thresholds, but above the de minimis amount (contracts above EUR 10 000), expressed as a percentage. Points are allocated based on the percentage of tender documents that were amended after initial publication (x): • x > 60% = 0 points. • 60% ≥ x > 20% = linear function. • x ≤ 20% = 3 points.