Council of States also adopts motion for publication of federal contracts from CHF 50,000

In January 2014, Edith Graf-Litscher, Co-President of the Parliamentary Group for Digital Sustainability, announced that she would submit a motion for more transparency in public procurement (10vor10 reported on it). After the Federal Council had recommended adopting the initiative ”Publication of basic information on all federal procurements from CHF 50,000”, the National Council approved the motion in June 2014. On Monday, 8 December 2014, the Council of States also adopted the motion.

Specifically, the Federal Council intends to implement the introduction of this publication requirement as part of the revision of the Public Procurement Act:

A legal basis under which all procurements made in accordance with the Federal Act on Public Procurement (PPA; SR 172.056.1) with a contract volume of CHF 50,000 or more are to be published at least once a year in machine-readable form is to be introduced as part of the planned revision of the Ordinance on Public Procurement (PPO; SR 172.056.11) and included for information purposes in the Confederation’s general terms and conditions.

It is now to be hoped that this new practice will also be adopted by cantons, municipalities and other public institutions in Switzerland. This will support the global movement for more transparency and participation in public procurement, which is currently led by initiatives such as Open Contracting or Stop Secret Contracts.

Matthias Stürmer
Opendata.ch