The procurement reform, which two days ago received the go-ahead from the Chamber in second reading after a process involving 100 votes, takes a decisive step on the road to definitive approval in Parliament: with 343 yes, 78 against and 25 abstentions, Montecitorio has thus approved the text that gives the government the task of reform procurement, based on as many as 75 directive criteria. The tight deadlines for the implementation of the new European directives (to be imported into our legal system by 18 April 2016), leave no room for further changes in the third reading in the Senate.
“This is very good news for the Italian public works system – commented the Minister of Infrastructure Graziano Delrio – it is a reform that means transparency, effectiveness, good use of public money and no more opaque areas”. According to Minister Delrio, the new code will be operational by June. “We have introduced several improvements compared to the text of the Senate – reported the president of the public works commission Ermete Realacci -. Among these is also the strengthening of Parliament's role in the process of exercising the delegation. It is a role that we care about and that we will play”.
The heart of the reform is the extension and strengthening of the powers entrusted to the Anac led by Raffaele Cantone. A passage in which it is not difficult to glimpse the reflection of the many corruption investigations that have crossed the world of procurement in recent months: from the Incalza-Perotti system uncovered by the Florence prosecutor to the Mafia Capitale scandal up to the latest investigations into Anas procurement.
With the reform, the Canton will be endowed with powers of precautionary intervention (possibility of blocking irregular tenders in progress), while compliance with market guidelines (standard tenders, guidelines, opinions) will become binding on administrations and businesses. Furthermore, major works must be capable of gaining consensus in the field (“débat public”). While the companies will also be evaluated on the basis of the reputation earned on site (respect for deadlines and low vocation for litigation) linked to the legality rating.
Among the corrections voted on the other day in the Chamber, it stands out in particular the choice to leave the government two ways to launch the reform. The first is to launch two decrees. One by 18 April 2016 to transpose the new EU directives on contracts, concessions and excluded sectors, without incurring the blows from Brussels for any overrun of the deadlines. Another by July 31, 2016 to reform the entire system.
The other way – perhaps the more logical one – is to launch a single decree that holds together the implementation and reorganization of the system by 18 April. However, the farewell to the old procurement regulation (Presidential Decree 207/2010) remains confirmed. Measure- monsters by 359 articles and various attachments which will be replaced by much more flexible guidelines proposed by Raffaele Cantone's Anac and approved with a decree from the Ministry of Infrastructure.
Another relevant correction concerns the much discussed point of the works managed in-house by the motorway concessionaires. An amendment voted in the House doubles from 12 to 24 months the time within which the concessionaires will be able to adapt to the new obligation to tender 80% (instead of 60%) of the works. Extension of terms it should allow dealerships to absorb the novelty without traumatic repercussions on the work in progress. However, the verification of compliance with this quota by the Anac remains.
Among the last-minute changes also theeasing of the constraints on the integrated project and works tender (skip the pole which limited the use of contracts with technological content exceeding 70% of the contract amount) and new measures which provide for the direct payment of SMEs involved in subcontracting.
