“America First” and “China First” are increasingly shaping international competition. Austria and Europe want to respond to this with a stronger industrial policy of their own. An important lever for this is loud Economics Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer (ÖVP) in public procurement: With around 67 billion euros The public sector has enormous purchasing power, which will make a greater contribution to securing value creation, production and jobs in Austria and Europe in the future.
Based on analysis conducted by the Supply Chain Institute ASCIIan action plan should be developed by the end of the year on how public spending can be used to strengthen Austria and Europe. At the same time, it’s about… strategic dependencies to get rid of it: “We can no longer be naive,” says Hattmannsdorfer.
67 billion heavy lever
The public sector, i.e. the federal and state governments, as well as federal and state-related companies, spends around 67 billion euros annually on products and services in Austria. This corresponds to around 18 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). These include building a road, purchasing trains for public transport, computers for authorities or equipping a hospital. “Especially in the case of large awards, specific criteria can be used accordingly major economic impact unfold,” explains Klaus Friesenbichlereconomist at the Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) at the press conference.
It’s no longer just the cheapest price that counts
According to the ASCII study, the average is Price weight above all procurements at around 70 percent. The cheapest price decides who gets the ordernot whether it is a European, Austrian or climate-friendly company. This is shown by the ASCII analysis presented on Wednesday. This should be done with the “Made in Europe and Partner Countries“Change strategy.
Ministries, public clients and state-affiliated companies should take part in a “Made in Europe Declaration” and take European value creation, security of supply and SMEs into account. Life cycle costs, quality, innovation and security of supply should also count more. For non-European purchases It should also be explained why purchases are made outside Europe.
Also the action plan should Small and medium-sized businesses facilitate access to large public tenders. To achieve this, large-scale orders will be placed more heavily in the future smaller Solve be divided. These are individual partial contracts within a larger tender. This means that smaller companies can also apply specifically for individual parts of a large order.
When technology becomes a dependency
At average 40 percent of all public tenders in Austria are currently only available a single bidder. This lack of competition is extremely high, especially in technology-intensive key areas such as IT, software and medical devices. In addition to strengthening competitiveness, it is also about the independence and security of Austria and Europe, said Hattmannsdorfer. The focus here is particularly on the risk of becoming dependent on third countries for key technological competencies.
According to the Minister of Economic Affairs, the global „Play facility“ changed drastically: While tariffs or missing raw material deliveries can still be calculated, a much more existential scenario threatens in the technology sector. “At some point you press the button and control another economy technologically in the area of key competencies”warns Hattmannsdorfer. IT infrastructures are particularly at risk here, for example Cloud solutions.
The Austrian Trade Union Confederation welcomes the initiative, but calls for funding to be linked to securing and expanding jobs. The Industrial Association warns of too much protectionism and emphasizes the importance of open markets for the export-oriented economy. FPÖ economic politician Barbara Three in turn criticizes the high state quota. This is now 55.2 percent of GDP. The state cannot replace private investments, but rather crowds them out, said Kolm.