EPPPL 4|2015 231 Framework Agreements: Transparency in the Call-off Award Process Framework Agreements: Transparency in the Call-off Award Process Marta Andrecka* Framework agreements have become a very popular procurement tool in the European Union, since their recognition in the 2004 Public Sector Directive. Meanwhile, there has been a lot of discussion regarding the need to balance the benefits that these agreements bring. Such benefits include efficiency through economies of scale (as one procedure can subsequently be used to award several contacts) and administrative efficiency. It is also vital to consider the risk that is associated with framework agreements, such as the significant risk for com- petition and lack of transparency in the award process. The latter will be the focus of this paper. Throughout the paper the author argues that the rules on framework agreements do not ensure enough transparency in the award process for call-off contracts. I. Introduction Aframeworkagreementisanarrangementestablish- ing the terms by which purchases may or will be made over a period of time. 1 It may be established and used by a single contracting authority or sever- al contracting authorities of which central purchas- ingbodiesarethemostfrequentorganisersofframe- workagreements.Theuseofframeworkagreements as an organisational tool for the award of multiple contracts to one or several economic operators has beenincreasingrapidly,atanaverageof18%peryear since 2006. 2 Between 2006 and 2010, framework agreements were used for about 11% of all contract award notices. 3 In 2010, about 21,500 framework agreements were awarded across the EU and the EEA. 4 Finally, in 2011 framework agreements ac- counted for one-quarter of the value of procurement advertised in the OJEU. 5 In practice, the use of framework agreements posedsomelegaluncertaintiesnecessitatingtheclar- ificationofthegoverningrulesandperhapseventhe introduction of further guidelines. With the intro- duction of the new procurement directives, some of the uncertainties have been clarified. Amongst oth- er clarifications, Directive 2014/24/EU now makes it clearthatcall-offs(publiccontracts)basedonaframe- workagreementmaylastlongerthantheframework agreement itself. 6 In addition, it is now stipulated that under a multi-supplier framework agreement both ‘direct award’ and ‘mini-competition’ may be used as a method of awarding call-off contracts, as long as the objective criteria for the choice of the method are provided at the stage of establishing the framework agreement. 7 However, other uncertain- ties are still present, as in fact, the majority of the rules on framework agreements have not been changed. 8 Thequestiononhowtoensuretransparen- cyduringtheawardofcall-offsisparticularlyimpor- tant.ItisunclearasDirective2014/24/EUleavesopen severalquestionsregardingthecall-offsawardedun- der the framework. * Dr. Marta Andrecka is Carlsberg Foundation’s postdoctoral fellow at the Department of law, Aarhus University, Denmark. 1 S. Arrowsmith, TheLawofPublicandUtilitiesProcurement RegulationintheEUandUK (vol.1, 3rd ed. Sweet & Maxwell 2014), 1101. 2 PwC, “Public procurement in Europe Cost and effectiveness”, a study on procurement regulation prepared for the European Commission London 2011, available at: <http://www.ec.europa .eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/docs/modernising_rules/ cost-effectiveness_en.pdf>. 3 Ibidem. 4 Ibidem. 5 G. Thomassen et al., SME’sAccesstoPublicProcurementMarkets andAggregationofDemandintheEU (2014 PwC, ICF-GHK, and Ecorys), 7. 6 See: Rec. 62 of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC (further: Directive 2014/24/EU). 7 See Art. 33 of Directive 2014/24/EU; see also: C. Risvig-Hammer, “Regular purchases and aggregated procurement: the changes in the new Public Procurement Directive regarding framework agreements, dynamic purchasing systems and central purchasing bodies”, 4PPLR2014, 207. 8 Rec. 60 of Directive 2014/24/EU.