Links I Liked [Public Procurement]

1. Turkey pledges to update its public procurement law(s) in accordance with the current EU Public Procurement Directives. Angola also starts reviewing its public procurement law which is based (well, inspired at least) on the Portuguese Public Contracts Code.

2. Shunning Israeli goods to become criminal offence for public bodies and student unions. I am not sure how this will play out. For the record, Israel's GPA commitments for goods and services are identical to those of the EU, so technically they enjoy access to the British market as any supplier based in another EU Member State could. As such, any boycott on contracts above thresholds would prima facie be illegal, ethical reasons notwithstanding. Hat tip to Claire Methven O'Brien for pointing me towards this.

3. Bangor University has 5 Commonwealth Scholarships to offer in case you are interested in a Masters' like the Public Procurement Law and Strategy.

4. Yosemite attractions change name due to trademark dispute. I could not make this up. Long story short, the National Park Service picked a new concessionary for the parks' concession and the previous company held to the trademarks it registered in the meanwhile. I keep saying that the interplay between intellectual property and public procurement deserves more of our attention, but even why did not see this coming.

5. Madrid's Mayor recognises she decided the contract value for a touchy contract to be just below national thresholds to avoid subjecting it to advertising obligations (Spanish only). Oh dear.