The Importance of Negotiation in the Public Procurement Process Janetta Sîrbu Professor Ph.D., Faculty of Economics, Management Department, ”Bogdan Vodă” University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, sjanetta2002@yahoo.com ABSTRACT: Negotiation has been and is one of the key elements when it comes to business success. The largest companies in the world were founded as a result of the abilities of their leaders to manage to find the optimal balance between personal goals and objectives, and at the same time, the respect and the knowledge to know when and how to relate to the negotiating partner. Negotiation is present in all areas of our lives, and trade negotiation is just an extended aspect of negotiation that already takes place at every moment, in different everyday situations. Negotiation is first and foremost a form of communication: negotiating means communicating in the hope of reaching an agreement. International trade negotiation is an organized process of communication between companies, which aim to gradually adapt their interests related to the object of negotiation in order to achieve a mutually acceptable business agreement, materialized in the international contract. In the process of applying the procedures for awarding public procurement contracts, the contracting authority, through the internal department specialized in awarding public procurement contracts, has a number of tasks, such as: elaboration of an annual public procurement program, elaboration of award documentation or the tender documentation, the fulfillment of the obligations regarding publicity, the application and completion of the award procedures, the constitution and keeping of the public procurement file. KEYWORDS: negotiation, communication, negotiating partners, public procurement, contracts Introduction Almost every day, any of us is convinced or persuaded by someone. Each of us has a point of view or we have to exchange something with others. We negotiate with our boss the development of a project, with the supplier we can negotiate the conditions for concluding a contract, with the client the payment conditions. We can negotiate anytime, with anyone and anything. Negotiation is present in all aspects of our existence, in a multitude of forms, is carried out in a variety of fields and is equally known locally, nationally and internationally. By negotiation we mean ”any form of unarmed confrontation, through which two or more parties with contradictory but complementary interests and positions seek to reach a mutually advantageous arrangement, whose terms are not known from the beginning” (Volkema 1999, 194). In this confrontation, mainly and loyally, arguments and evidence are brought, pretensions and objections are formulated, concessions and compromises are made in order to avoid both the rupture of relations and the open conflict. "The agreement of the parties may be a simple verbal agreement, consolidated by a handshake, it may be a tacit consent, a letter of intent or a protocol, written in a hurry, it may be a convention or a contract, written in accordance with certain procedures and common customs, but it can also mean an armistice, a pact or an international treaty, drafted in compliance with special procedures and customs” (Churchman 1995, 57). Negotiation “is a competitive process in which, starting from the basis of common interests, the parties seek to reach an agreement that, in parallel with the satisfaction of common interests, to ensure their own preponderant advantages. In essence, however, negotiation must lead to a consensus and not to a victory of one party over the other” (Hames 2011, 126). Thus, "all negotiating parties can win and none lose. But in the end, the negotiation has only one goal, that being to reach a common interest and to achieve collaboration between the parties. Each party will be more or less successful in the negotiation depending on the favorable clauses obtained in its favor, although in itself the completion of a negotiation even if concessions have been made can be considered a success, as long as there is something to be gained from the collaboration”