Selling to public buyers is a large and lucrative opportunity especially in France. With public sector spending of €72 Billion (2016 figures) on goods, services and construction works every year, the French public buyers (government, local authorities and public companies…) are a very large potential market for businesses of all sizes.
The legal framework of public procurement in France is based on the three new European Union Directives dated 26 February 2014 that were implemented into French law by two ordinances concerning procurement contracts (Ordinance n°2015-899 23 July 2015) and concession contracts (Ordinance 2016-65 29 January 2016).
Any European business can bid for a public contract in France under the same conditions as French businesses. Non-EU business will also be treated equally irrespective of nationality in the vast majority of procedures (the exceptions to the equality treatment principle existing in the EU Directives or the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) signed in the framework of the World Trade Organization impact an extremely low percentage of contracts award).
Where to find business opportunities: in France tenders are announced on these main websites: www.boamp.fr; www.ted.europa.eu; http://www.annonces-legales.fr/annonces-legales but major public company buyer profiles and other websites publish also contract notices.
Since it can be difficult and time-consuming for you to see and review all media and publications related to contract notices which may be of interest, select a service provider to receive only the tenders you are interested in and that are adapted to your development strategy (nature of the work / size / amount / location, etc.)..
The tender must be in French, so prepare the usually expected information: company history, financial information, company’s knowhow, company’s chart, human & technical means, client references and also the European Single Procurement Document (ESPD).
Instead of any supporting documents, as evidence of its capacities, a company can provide the buyer with the ESPD, consisting of a self-declaration on the basis of a standard form issued by the European Commission. The actual documents will only have to be provided by the winner of the tender.
In order to complete a robust bid/no bid analysis and get your documents ready, contact your public procurement lawyer;
