Competitive Dialogue and Negotiated Procedures Master Class

At the end of November, Martin Oder and Michael Burnett will again hold a Master class on competitive dialog and the negotiated procedures.

Competitive dialogue and the negotiated procedure are difficult to implement effectively, but are essential for complex infrastructure and ICT projects and for the modernization of public services in the current budgetary climate. In the 2014 procurement directives, competitive dialogue and the new competitive procedure with negotiation are easier to justify than in the previous directives and can therefore be applied more easily. The rules for the two procedures are different, and the procedural rules for the competitive procedure with negotiation are more detailed than the previous rules for procedures with negotiation. Competitive dialogue was also introduced as an available procedure in the utility sectors by the directive 2014/25/EU.

In practice, many questions arise regarding the effective implementation of these procedures, such as:

• When is competitive dialogue a better procurement route than the restricted procedure or the competitive procedure with negotiation?
• How should the use of competitive dialogue or negotiated procedure be justified in the current directives?
• What do contracting authorities need to do to plan for the effective use of these procedures?
• How can contracting agencies best take advantage of the flexibility that the procedures offer?