The annual NAPO meeting, bringing together procurement officers from all EU agencies and including contributions from DG Budget, DG Informatics and the European Court of Auditors, was hosted by Cedefop on 16 and 17 October.
In his welcome message, Cedefop Director James Calleja stressed 'the crucial role of procurement services of the agencies, and all EU institutions, for the successful and efficient functioning of the organisation and its good external image.'
Mr Calleja added: 'I am aware of the difficulties they face and the effort and commitment they must deploy to maintain a constantly high performance,' noting that 'this is especially true as the world around, and the market too, changes much faster and more radically than the set of rules and procedures we are all obliged to respect for the sake of transparency and non-discrimination.'
DG Budget's Florence Bouvret stressed in her presentation that 'procurement is not used only as a purchasing tool anymore, but also for environmental, social and innovation objectives.'
Participants expressed their full satisfaction with the content of the agenda, the quality and extent of the discussions and the general organisational effort and support provided by Cedefop's Procurement service.
The 2015 meeting, on 1 and 2 October, will be hosted by OHIM (Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market) in Alicante, Spain, in parallel with the annual meeting of the Accountants’ Network of the agencies and with a joint session foreseen.