Edinburgh Centre for Commercial Law: EU Procurement Law Conference 28 September 2012

The Edinburgh Centre for Commercial Law was delighted to host a conference on EU Procurement Law in conjunction with the commercial law firm, Burness LLP for the third year in a row. The Edinburgh Centre for Commercial Law and Burness welcomed approximately 60 delegates to the Playfair Library from a range of organisations in the public and private sectors. 

After intensive prior consultation with stakeholders, the conference focused on the theme of overcoming practical problems in the procurement field. In particular, Graeme Palmer, Director of Burness ‘s presentation concentrated on contract award procedures and the evaluation of tender bids, whilst Pamela Brown, a Community Benefits and Social Enterprise Adviser, looked at the interesting issue of developing and implementing community benefits in practice. Nico Spiegel of the European Commission’s Public Procurement Policy Directorate and Paul McNulty, Deputy Director of the Scottish Procurement Directorate of the Scottish Government, provided a unique insight into the thinking of the European Commission and Scottish Government on impending European and domestic legislation. Meanwhile, Dr. Aris Georgopoulous, Lecturer in European and Public Law of the University of Nottingham, discussed procurement and collaborative relationships and Morag Wise, Advocate of the Scottish Bar furnished a review of recent Scottish case law on procurement law.

The presentations were followed by an interactive question and answer session with the speakers. Delegates were encouraged to formulate questions which were then discussed and debated by the panel.

In conclusion, the conference was a great success and furthered one of the principal objectives of the Edinburgh Centre for Commercial Law: namely, to act as a forum where academic lawyers can interact with practising lawyers in the solicitor and advocate professions, as well as organisations in the public and private sectors.