In-House training course for ESPON EGTC Staff : public procurement and contract management

The Forhom Institute has been selected by ESPON to provide a training course on UE public procurement for its EGTC staff members based in Luxembourg.The ESPON 2020 Programme was aiming at promoting and fostering a European territorial dimension in development and cooperation by providing evidence, knowledge transfer and policy learning to public authorities and other policy actors at all levels.The training objective was defined as follows:

• to be familiar with the major concepts and legal obligations as regards the public procurement rules;
• to be able to apply basic rules for an efficient implementation of service contracts;
• to be aware of the necessity and importance of mechanisms to avoid any conflict of interest or potential risks that could lead to fraud in relation with public procurements.
• This training course allowed ESPON EGTC staff members to be familiar with core European Union public procurements procedures and key contract management issues, and more precisely:
• Context of a project financed by European Structural Investment Funds: Control and checks, financial correction, conflict of interest, sound financial management, audit trail;
• Public Procurement Procedures: Selection of the type of procedure, thresholds, publication obligations, tendering procedure, tendering documentation, evaluation, communication with tenders, award of the contract;
• Contract Management: Rights and obligations of the Contracting authority and Contractor, implementation of the contract, amendments on contracts, closure of the contract ;
• Irregularities: Common irregularities related to procurement, implementation, financial management and related reports, technical reporting, conflicts of interest, visibility, monitoring of implementation, closing of contracts and change of the contracts etc. Drawing specific suggestions on how to avoid any type of irregularity discussed.

This training course was prepared and organized by the Forhom Institute and financed by the European Union.
This training course was intended for all Espon EGTC staff members, newcomers with less procurement knowledge and also those with experience in public procurement procedures, that is financial experts, financial officer and administrative officers.