1. E-appeal systems in Romania
Silviu – Cristian POPA
International Expert
The National Council for Solving Complaints
Romania
The National Council for Solving Complaints (N.C.S.C.) was established in 2006 as a consequence of Romania's commitments under the Chapter 1 "Free movement of goods" of the "Treaty of accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Union "and European Commission recommendations.
Belgrade, Serbia
07 February 2019

2. General information Initially, was paper based process only;
In a short time, handling an increasing complaints number, becomes challenging;
The random allocation process – at risk.
The National Council for Solving Complaints (N.C.S.C.) – independent, non-judiciary, administrative first instance solving complaints lodged against public procurement procedures, established by GEO 34/ Government Emergency Ordinance no. 34 of 2006 regarding the award of public procurement contracts, of public works concession contracts and of services concession contracts. In 2016, GEO 34/2006 been repealed and Law 101/2016 been enacted.
Impact assessment concerning amending Directives 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC with regard to improving the effectiveness of review procedures concerning the award of public contracts – mentions two problems: the lack of effective remedies against the practice of illegal direct awards of public contracts and – the race to signature of public contracts by awarding authorities which actually deprives economic operators of the possibility to put remedies actions effectively in place before the contract has been started – Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee - The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is an EU consultative body set up by the Treaties of Rome in the voice of organized civil society in Europe. Nowadays is the same race with a new hat – The need for speed.

4. Starting point
Annual Public Procurement Implementation Review 2013 – Council of the European Union;
The EC launched a tender to contract out a Study on the assessment of the public procurement system in Romania¹;
The aforementioned Study was awarded to Deloitte².
¹,,Romania - The Romanian public procurement legislation, the capacity of Romanian authorities in this field, as well as everyday procurement practices are critical aspects for the speed, legality and efficiency of procedures for concluding public contracts (in a bigger context of increased level of absorption of EU funds) as well as for the later smooth reimbursement of funds from the European Commission (EC, or the Commission). In the above context, the EC launched a tender to contract out a Study on the assessment of the public procurement system in Romania. This Study was awarded to Deloitte and the project for its execution was initiated at the end of November 2010 — the Study will be completed within the coming months. The objective of the Study is to assess the prevailing situation in Romania regarding public procurement with a view to identifying malfunctions and weaknesses of the institutional framework, applicable procedures and capacity of contracting authorities. The scope of the Deloitte project was: ü Assessment of the public procurement system in Romania regarding its capacity to efficiently regulate the market reply, as well as its transparency. Identification of legal, organizational and institutional weaknesses; ü Assessment of the capacity of contracting authorities to efficiently manage public procurement procedures and the quality of their outputs, supplemented by an in-depth evaluation of some specific contracts; Issuing of detailed recommendations to overcome the possible difficulties and weaknesses arising from the preliminary assessments. The findings have mainly resulted in the following recommendations: ü Stabilization and codification of national legislation ü Elimination of non-unitary practices between the main actors on the procurement market ü Evaluating and updating training needs. Revaluation of NCSC decisions. Strengthen ANRMAP’s monitoring capacity ü Strengthening the capacity and stability of evaluation committees ü Detection and prevention of conflicts of interest’’.
² Deloitte - ASSESSMENT OF THE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT SYSTEM IN ROMANIA – Final report refers to DG REGIO, 2014.

5. Report key findings
Tackling bureaucracy and addressing undue workload;
Case allocation should be transparent;
Improving complaint caseload management;
Using effective internal and external communication.

6. Streamlining Work Process
Easier and paper – less work flow – arguing at the beginning;
Improved confidentiality – knowing in the real time the panel allocation;
Support for management and case-handlers – documents tracked on real time;
External communication.

7. Mix & Match law requirements
Transparent background of the solving complaint process;
Case random allocation;
Anonymizing published Council’s decision.

8. Financing strategy - Applying for EU funds
Submitting the project in 2013 to the Ministry of European Funds;
Main project’s topic: Management improvement at the National Council for Solving Complaints level.
The full projects name: ,,Management improvement at the National Council for Solving Complaints level, in relation with the specific competencies addressed to the successful implementation of projects financed from structural instruments, based on streamlining the public procurement process "(SMIS code 48792).

9. Project timeline

10. Needs assessment

11. Needs assessment
The project starts by outsourcing an analysis of current internal processes and procedures – e.g. performance audit;
Purpose - to reflect the organizational level and Council’s performance at institutional level, in connection with its capacity to accomplish the mission and own objectives;
Portal is designed by a web technology portal based.

12. Talking Portal

17. Distinctive application features
Portal is designed by a web technology portal based;
Document management;
All documents and correspondent activities traceable on the web platform.

18. N.C.S.C. FLOW CHART

19. Filter topics by specific topics
European Single Procurement Document (ESPD);
The unjustified refusal to award the public procurement contract in separate batches;
Abnormally Low Tender Prices;
Relying on third - party;
Conflict of interests in public procurement.
Refers to the tender documentation & to the bid evaluation process.

20. Using portal for data mining
External clients – linked to an active interface;
Inside N.C.S.C. – data gathering for monthly plenum review regarding different rulings on similar cases (by law);
Building case law - semestrial common meetings with judges and other key institutions representatives (by law).
External clients – i.e. - contracting authorities, bidders, legal representatives;
For binding plenum decision – subject matter report to be debated and voted off (by law);
Conclusions of the seminars are publicly displayed on N.C.S.C.’s portal (Romanian language only);
Testimonial - ,,At the end of November, a seminar on public procurement case law was organized by the National Council for Solving Complaints (N.C.S.C.) and the Bucharest Court of Appeal bringing together judges, representatives from public key institutions, Ministries and the Public Ministry’’ - (Technical report accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the European Parliament ant the Council on Progress in Romania under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism).
Since 2018 – Library of good practices and tools accompanying the European Commission Recommendation – Case 28 – Romania – Building an architecture for the professionalization of public procurement.

21. The National Agency for Public Procurement;
Portal – Tool for establishing a long-term relationship with the institution
The National Agency for Public Procurement;
The Romanian Digital Agenda Agency;
The Competition Council;
The Romanian National Trade Register Office.
Communications with the institutions:
The National Agency for Public Procurement – on regular basis;
The Romanian Digital Agenda Agency – on regular basis;
The Romanian National Trade Register – on regular basis;
The Competion Council – on case by case basis.

22. Portal Dynamic Features
Collecting data time -
Filters -
In order to outline a specific case law filters are used to search on the portal ( search by decision number, complaint number, plaintiff, contracting authority, date);

23. Portal ensure a user-friendly access to N.C.S.C. case-law;
Portal overview
Portal ensure a user-friendly access to N.C.S.C. case-law;
Best practices guide is available on electronic format;
Pro-activity - Boosting Emerging Technologies.
Testimonial - ,,N.C.S.C. is an administrative judicial body dealing with complaints in public procurement. The N.C.S.C. portal was continuously developed in the last three years and is now recognized as a useful tool for public procurement practitioners’’ – (Technical report accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the European Parliament ant the Council on Progress in Romania under the Co-operation and Verification Mechanism).
Accessing portal abroad location: France, UK, USA, Germany, Italy, Spain, Norway, Austria, Poland Hungary, Singapore, Bulgaria, Greece, Thailand, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, China, Japan, Republic of Moldova, Sweden, South Africa, Australia, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Qatar.

24. 2017 Activity Report is available on NCSC’s portal and www.cnsc.ro
Portal coordinates
2017 Activity Report is available on NCSC’s portal and
Portal.cnsc.ro

25. The next meeting of the EU network of First instance public procurement review bodies coordinates:
Bucharest, Romania
April 2 – 4, 2019
You’re all welcome !