Completing an OJEU Proforma

With the radical overhaul of the OJEU Proforma now well underway and the new notices - including the new Defence and Security forms - already available, it is more important than ever that those completing and submitting these forms are fully aware of the information required to be included.

Many changes to the forms have been made. For example, the previous exclusions lists and technical and financial information have been replaced with free text boxes, and errors made when publishing the various notices in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) can mean a great deal of wasted time and expense for contracting authorities. In extreme cases, it could even lead to legal challenge.

This PASS workshop will take attendees through the key areas of a new OJEU Proforma including:

• Object of the Contract and CPV Codification
• Procedure
• Legal, Economic, Financial and Technical Information
• Award Criteria

It will explain the rationale behind the OJEU Proforma and will take attendees through a step-by-step guide to completing a form, explaining how to increase competition and reduce risk for your organisation.

It will also seek to explain the complexities of areas such as variants, division into lots and selection criteria and will detail the Voluntary Ex-Ante Transparency (VEAT) notice, along with some guidance on its use.

Best practice examples and case studies on breaches of the process will be provided, while emphasis will be put on the criticality of submitting compliant notices and will explain in an easy-to-understand manner the key steps buyers must take.

Who should attend?

• Procurement personnel
• Contract officers
• Specifiers
• Anyone who has completed or is likely to need to complete an OJEU Proforma or anyone involved in specifying who may feed into future OJEU notices

Why attend?

The Commission Interpretative Communication 2006 stated that "the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination imply an obligation of transparency which consists of ensuring, for the benefit of any potential tenderer, a degree of advertising sufficient to enable the market to be opened up to competition."

When you are running an above-thresholds tender, the best way to achieve this competition through transparency is to advertise in the OJEU. Ensuring that you know how to do this effectively and compliantly is essential, as mistakes can result in cancelling the tender process or legal challenge.

This PASS workshop will ensure that delegates have a clear and concise understanding of the reasoning and methodology behind the OJEU Proforma while providing them with practical advice and guidance that can be used when completing procurement advertisements. It will explain key areas to ensure that attendees have the appropriate skills to determine whether the information provided for inclusion in the notice is sufficient to reduce risk and prevent challenge.