Some thoughts on the Brexit "no deal" guidance for public procurement
The UK Government published recently a guidance note on the potential impact for public contracts access in case there is no deal with the EU before March 29 2019. There is not really much actionable information and perhaps calling it “guidance” is a slight misnomer as the document is more of a “heads up, this may happen” type of document.
Post March 29 2019, the Government implies that UK contracting authorities will be using a new UK-based e-notification service instead of OJEU/TED. However, there is no information whatsoever about this new service, who will set it up, by what date and how it will operate. In short, it adds no legal certainty to the implications of the UK departure. It might have been preferable to simply refer to the need to use Contracts Finder and similar regional portals for the time being instead of re-inventing the wheel once more.
Looking into the part about procedures ongoing at that date also yields reasons for concern. Here’s what the guidance contains:
“There will be more engagement on about how to deal with ongoing procurement procedures in the handover period between the two systems nearer the time. This will be described via appropriate communication channels and in guidance, which will be made available on GOV.UK.”
Again, not exactly reassuring. What will happen to those situations whereby the contracting authorities (and suppliers) are reliant on the European Single Procurement Document or e-Certis and associated databases to get data about economic operators taking part in ongoing procedures? And would the EU economic operators (and GPA ones) lose their status halfway through the procedure?
Finally, a word about the GPA. The guidance confirms that the UK is seeking individual accession to the agreement (as forecast by myself and Albert Sanchez-Graells). As the accession request was submitted in June 2018, the process will take time and it is simply impossible that the accession would be wrapped up by the end of March 2019. In consequence, UK economic operators would not only lose access to the EU procurement market but also to those of GPA members. As for economic operators from GPA countries, it would be up to the UK to decide how to treat them, but even if they were admitted to tendering doubts will remain about their eligibility for remedies.