Barriers and solution for both SMEs and regional/public authorities involved in Green Public Procurement
XPRESS – an EU-funded project under Horizon 2020 R&I programme – gives support to Public Procurements to facilitate the collaboration between SMEs and public sector for the adoption of RES (Renewable Energy Sources) in regions. Public procurement can be an effective tool for promoting innovation and integration of RES - for municipalities and businesses. However, there are several barriers that need to be overcome.
For example, it may be difficult for a public authority to find the small and medium-sized enterprise that can offer innovative services. By the same token, complex public procurement procedures might represent a burden for SMEs.
These issues are even more relevant when restarting business after the pandemic. In this context, the workshop will be evaluating barriers and enablers to the collaboration between innovative SMEs and local government. For instance, it may be difficult for a public authority to find an SME offering the “green” innovative services needed. Conversely, it may be a barrier to SMEs that procurement procedures at regional and municipal level are overly complicated.
The stakeholder cafe is aimed at identifying solutions and proposals, considering both barriers (including EU procurement rules) and opportunities based on the most up to date results of the XPRESS project.