CEEP closed today its 14th Annual Local Enterprises Conference with a declaration highlighting the key role of local public services providers in Europe.

The 16,000 local enterprises representatives gathered in CEEP called on European policy makers to take into account their added-value and specificities. Local enterprises need indeed a well balanced and effective legal environment. This can be achieved through:

1. A de minimis regulation within the state aid rules effectively addressing the needs of local operators;

2. A clear recognition that “in house” rules are treated outside the public procurement framework;

3. The acknowledgment of the need of flexible tools, adapted to local specificities and resources when it comes to service concessions;

4. A simplification of public procurement rules which limits administrative and financial burden on local actors;

5. The introduction in public procurement directives of the Institutionalised Public Private Partnerships procedure (IPPP)

The implementation of those conditions will enable even further local enterprises to be a stabilising factor in time of crisis and an engine for investments in Europe.

For more details, the Final Declaration of the 14th CEEP Annual Local Enterprises Conference is available here

For further information, please contact:

Valeria RONZITTI, Director of CEEP - tel. +32 (0) 2 219 27 98

CEEP gathers enterprises and organisations from across Europe, both public and private, at national, regional and local level, which are public employers or providers of services of general interest. CEEP members employ a quarter of the EU workforce; CEEP is one of the three European Social Partners.