How should the Fair Compensation Law (No. 49 of 2023) be coordinated with the Contract Code? The thorny issue on which the Anac had requested intervention “from the competent Control Room at the Presidency of the Council, in order to avoid different opinions and disputes”, is now also being discussed in Parliament. And the Ministry of Infrastructure itself, through the mouth of the undersecretary Tullio Ferrante, admits the need for clarifications, which – he states – are the responsibility of the same entity to which the Anac had addressed, i.e. the Control Room for the code of public contracts established at the presidency of the Council of Ministers.
The same Anti-Corruption Authority, in the standard tender scheme for i architecture and engineering services put out for consultation, had left three hypotheses open: holding fixed-price tenders, the possibility of a reduction limited to general expenses and non-applicability of the law on fair compensation to public tender procedures. Among the three options, Anac favored the second.
But the knot is not easy to untie and the words of the Undersecretary of State make it clear. «Aware of the importance of the topic, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has already reported to the control room at the Presidency of the Council established pursuant to article 221, paragraph 1 of the public contracts code, the need to adopt a clarification on the matterfollowing a discussion with the trade associations”explained Tullio Ferrante.
It’s about finding the square, making it collimate the principles of fair compensation and competition in procurement.
«On the merits, in any case – continues the Undersecretary of State -, it is underlined that the line that is considered necessary to follow can only have as its objective the reconciliation between the remuneration needs represented by the professional orders in light of the principles of fair compensation and the effective sustainability of the offer in relation to the overall economic framework of the trust”. «And it’s clear – he adds – as, in any case, this direction of action can only be carried out in the light of the Euro-unitary reference principles, aimed at ensuring both maximum participation in the tenders of micro operators and effective competition in the relevant sectors from time to time”.
«It is therefore confirmed – conclude – the intention that in the next session of the Control Room the methods for clarifying the coordination between the two regulatory interventions will be agreed in order to provide a explanation to the contracting authorities in the form of an opinion, or through the specific regulatory coordination».
published on: 03/29/2024