./.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/WGTGP/W/18
25 May 1998
(98-2142)
Working Group on Transparency
in Government ProcurementOriginal:  English
COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
The following communication, dated 18 May 1998, has been received from the Permanent
Delegation of the European Commission with the request that it be circulated to Members.
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TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Technical assistance is an important element to ensuring the success of a future transparency
agreement.  It can and should play a role in helping WTO Members (present and future) to implement
the agreement, in developing domestic regimes and in taking further practical steps to enhance
transparency of procurement policies and practices.
The European Community has an extensive range of technical assistance and cooperation
programmes with third countries which have been developed together with the beneficiary countries
to meet their individual needs and priorities.  The EC wishes to contribute to the debate within the
Working Group on Transparency in Government Procurement by drawing on its own experience of
technical assistance programmes to provide a brief overview of why, and in what forms the EC
provides, or could foresee, technical assistance in areas which might be of interest to the WorkingGroup.
The reasons the EC provides technical assistance in areas related to government procurement
include, but are not limited to:
- the creation of modern and effective public administrations;
- the promotion of good governance and the rule of law;
- helping to achieve best value for money in government purchasing and use of
taxpayers' money in this regard;
- assisting in the fight against corruption;
- enabling benefits to be gained from technological advances, particularly in the field
of information and communication technology;  and
- to facilitate the implementation of agreements and cooperation programmes to which
the EC is a Party.WT/WGTGP/W/18
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What forms could technical assistance take?
- economic and policy option analysis, legal advice and assistance in drafting laws,
administrative and/or policy guidance;
- training, such as practical training for th ose who have to implement, use or enforce
new legislation, procedures and/or practices, training the judiciary, and training localtrainers who will continue training prog rammes in, for example, business schools or
colleges of public administration in the beneficiary country;
- administrative cooperation to enhance institution building and the exchange of
information.  For example, the EC has a programme providing for the exchange of
officials between the EC and the beneficiary country for short periods of up to
six months;
- workshops, seminars and the production of user guides, including the development of
Internet Websites, search engines and databases, to help provide information about
opportunities to do business with governments at home and abroad, and to facilitate
access to that information.  Such assistance can be of particular benefit to small- and
medium-sized enterprises, increasing their confidence and effectiveness in
successfully entering procurement markets at home and abroad;
- taking practical steps to make procurement more user-friendly by developing
standard forms for tender notices and fill-in-the-blank bid forms, as well as
developing a common procurement vocabulary;
- the development of IT tools which can be used to disseminate information about
procurement opportunities and practices, and/or to establish full electronic tendering,as well as to facilitate the collection of relevant economic data and statistics;
- the provision of office, IT and/or other equipment necessary for the implementation
and enforcement of legislation, procedures and/or practices.
Concluding remarks
The EC fully supports the inclusion of a provision on technical assistance in any future
transparency agreement and would advocate the use of language which mirrors that of Article 67 of
the TRIPS Agreement.  The EC is prepared to c onsider positively any additional suggestions which
might be made in this field.
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