Invitation to a dialogue on consortia and public procurement

(Please note, the press release was updated on 27/4: The time of the meeting has been changed from June 7 at 13:00 to June 7 at 14:00. Those who have already registered have been directly informed) 

The Competition and Consumer Authority invites interested parties to a dialogue meeting on consortium formation in connection with public procurement. The topics at the dialogue meeting will be:

• Rules and practices relating to consortium formation 
• Review of cases
• Small and medium-sized enterprises access to public procurement

Last week, the Competition Appeals Tribunal upheld the Competition Council's decision that a consortium which had bid for the Danish Road Directorate’s road marking infringed competition rules. The ruling led to a debate on the possibility of SMEs bidding for public contracts.

Many consortia will be legal in respect of the competition rules. Either because the participants are not competitors or because the competitive advantages of joining forces exceed the competitive disadvantages. But, just as it is harmful when competitors coordinate their bids, it can be harmful if two or more companies invalidate competition by agreeing to only make a single bid as a consortium.

The Competition and Consumer Authority has been in ongoing discussions with stakeholders regarding consortium formation in tenders. We have published three guidelines on consortium formation aimed at both procuring entities and tenderers. These are called "Consortium collaboration in relation to the Danish Competition Act","Guidelines on consortium formation" and "Tenders with the participation of consortia" and can be found on the Competition and Consumer Authority's website.

The dialogue meeting will take place on Tuesday June 7 at 14.00 at the premises of the Competition and Consumer Authority, Carl Jacobsens Vej 35, 2500 Valby. You can register by sending an email to: forkontor@kfst.dk.