THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN PUBLIC PROCURING AUTHORITY AND PRIVATE COMPETITORS: EXPERIENCES WITH THE COMPETITIVE DIALOGUE

In 2004 the European Commission introduced the competitive dialogue as a procurement procedure to enable for an open public-private dialogue leading to more innovation, increased competition and more trust. Since 2004 this procedure has been increasingly applied in complex Dutch road infrastructure projects. In this paper experiences from practice are analysed to assess if the goals of the European Commission are met. Conclusions were drawn on the basis of interviews with experienced public and private actors and validated during expert meetings with contract managers. Results indicate that the competitive dialogue can lead to more innovation when overcoming the reserved attitude and risk avoidance of public procuring authorities. Competition in Dutch procurement increased by use of the dialogue, and although the public-private contact in the procurement procedure leads to increased trust, it is hard to maintain this in an environment driven by competition. It is concluded that notwithstanding the use of de competitive dialogue, the ideal of an open public-private dialogue has not yet been realised. Recommendations are to stimulate innovation by not specifying the desired end-result in detail beforehand, reward openness and limit the dialogue to the complex issues