The Public Procurement Gazette

On the 11th of October the Commission formally endorsed a new Solar Photovoltaic Industry Alliance, with the aim of scaling up manufacturing technologies of innovative solar photovoltaic products and components in the EU. This will contribute to accelerating the deployment of solar power across the EU and improving the resilience of the EU's energy system. The Alliance is one of the concrete initiatives of the EU Solar Strategy, adopted in May 2022 as part of the REPowerEU Action Plan, which will help the EU reach over 320 GW of newly installed solar photovoltaic capacity by 2025, and almost 600 GW by 2030. DG GROW C2 is working together with Dutch Pianoo to establish an EU level buying group on sustainable Solar PV so that this important work can be connected to the work of the Solar Alliance.

We are pleased to inform you that the Commission Staff Working Document entitled “Vulnerabilities of the global supply chains of medicines - Structured dialogue on the security of supply of medicines supply” is now published!

Are you a professional in public procurement in the healthcare sector? If so, you can participate to the first edition of the European Hospital Procurement Barometer! This initiative is organized by Resah, a French public Group Purchasing Organization, with the support of the European Heath Public Procurement Alliance. Deadline to complete the survey: 4th November 2022!

The main objective of this call for tender is to improve the business environment of innovative SMEs and make public procurement an attractive option for these economic operators through an enhanced uptake of strategic public procurement in Europe. Such uptake is achieved through collaboration between big buyers in strategic public procurement with a view to driving the market for innovative goods, services and works. The call for tender includes two different lots: - Lot 1: Setting up and management of working groups of public buyers: supporting buyers in joint preparation of calls for tender, joint market engagement, cooperative drafting of statements / terms of reference (budget: 3 m €) . - Lot 2: Training and knowledge development on procurement of innovation for both operational (onsite) and senior managers (online only) (budget: 1.4 m €) New deadline to submit a bid : 7 November 2022

How do public buyers contribute to sustainable solutions in zero-emission construction sites, heavy-duty electric vehicles, circular construction and digital healthcare? On November 9th in Brussels, the EU-funded Big Buyers Initiative will host its annual symposium to highlight its work. And a new Big Buyers project will soon follow!

Are you a buyer or innovation supplier and do you wish to fast track to innovation procurement? The InnoBuyer project brings together procurers and innovation suppliers to jointly co-create solutions to a common challenge proposed by the procurer, with coaching and financial support. Want to know more? Join the Observer Group of the Big Buyers Initiative and remain up to date with the most recent news!

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a need for coordination and cooperation at a European, national, regional and even local level in the health sector. The pandemic has unveiled already-existing weaknesses in EU countries’ supply chain and public procurement. The aim of the call is to support EU countries in organising a thorough assessment of public procurement in the health sector at national and/or regional level . The call is expected to: - Develop new/ improved national and regional strategies on public procurement; - Make current practices more resilient and efficient all over the Union; - Increase preparedness for future health crises. The total budget amounts to € 5 million The deadline for applications is 21 February 2023, 17:00 (CET).