Press Release
Brussels, 20th of September 2017

The European Association of Public eTendering Platform Providers (EUPLAT) and the Open Pan European Public
Procurement Online (OpenPEPPOL) have signed today in Brussels a Memorandum of Understanding for a closer cooperation.

With this agreement, both associations aim to achieve a more effective and efficient implementation of the full spectrum of innovative changes required by the Directive 2014/24/EC on public markets.

EUPLAT and OpenPEPOL will work together in areas such as the Governance of the pre-award interoperability infrastructure, increasing the level of participation in each other’s governance forums and creating more opportunities for joint meetings.

One of the key issues in focus in this collaboration is to support the implementation of a true interoperable e-Tendering environment in Europe by joint communication and extended collaboration.

As Miguel Sobral, Chairman of EUPLAT, said: “The combination of OpenPEPPOL’s experience in the interoperability’s infrastructure and its Governance, combined with the experience of the EUPLAT members operating Public eProcurement platforms supporting the pre-award in most of the EU, will be a major step forward to implement a sustainable, inclusive and replicable interoperability framework.”

The Associations aim to create awareness and engagement amongst stakeholders by providing joint position papers on strategic topics and by join forces in showcasing the Business Case of Pan-European interoperability.

The first step in the collaboration between the Associations is the provision of a Position Paper laying out the value of establishing interoperable solutions for ESPD implementations in Europe.

About EUPLAT
EUPLAT is the European Association of Public e-Tendering Platform Providers. EUPLAT is set up to discuss and represent common interests of commercial e-tendering platforms serving EU public contracting authorities and economic operators. It is an International Not-for-Profit Association organized under the Belgian law. EUPLAT acts as an association at European level for a large and qualified community of public e-tendering platform providers.

About OpenPEPPOL
OpenPEPPOL is a non-profit international association under Belgian law (Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif – AISBL) and consists of both public sector and private members. The purpose of OpenPEPPOL is to enable European businesses to easily deal electronically with any European public sector buyers in their procurement processes, thereby increasing opportunities for greater competition for government contracts and providing better value for tax payers’ money.