Introductory text

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 127 and 128 thereof,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 12.1 in conjunction with Article 3.1 and Articles 5, 16 and 24 thereof,

Whereas:

On 10 July 2014, the Governing Council decided to extend the mandate of the Eurosystem Procurement Coordination Office (EPCO) to 31 December 2019. On 7 January 2015, the Governing Council appointed the Banque centrale du Luxembourg to host EPCO for this period.

In addition to national central banks, the national authorities of the Member States, Union institutions and bodies, or international organisations may also have an interest in participating in EPCO's activities and its joint tender procedures. Such participation should take place under conditions decided by the Governing Council. Such conditions should be similar to the conditions applicable to the central banks.

On 13 November 2014, the Governing Council adopted a Guideline on the procurement of euro banknotes^f1. In addition, Union procurement legislation was revised by Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council^f2, which promotes the joint procurement of goods and services and the use of certain centralised purchasing techniques. The Governing Council seeks to benefit from the updated legislation by fostering participation in joint procurements.

The identification and assessment of potential cases for joint procurements is given priority within the list of EPCO tasks, and the withdrawal from joint procurements is subject to predefined deadlines.

To streamline EPCO's budgetary procedures and to support additional efforts in the context of leading joint procurements, on 7 January 2015, the Governing Council approved the use of a financial envelope to cover a multiyear budget. The Governing Council also modified procurement planning to make it more flexible whereby EPCO will prepare a rolling procurement plan that is subject to Governing Council approval each year.

The effectiveness and efficiency of EPCO should be evaluated before the end of its mandate.

Therefore, Decision ECB/2008/17^f3 should be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: