A study points to the difficulties of access of VSEs-SMEs in the BETIC branch to public procurement

The results of this barometer commissioned by the Cinov Federation make it possible to highlight the difficulties of access to public procurement from the point of view of companies, often set aside by the lack of confidence of entrepreneurs in the public sector. Despite this mistrust, improvements are visible thanks to recent regulations put in place during the last five years.

With this barometer, the Cinov Federation wishes to challenge and raise awareness of the public authorities as well as private decision-makers on this important issue, thanks to the elements collected from the entrepreneurs themselves.

Public procurement, a market with great potential…

According to figures published by the Economic Observatory of Public Orders (OECP) in 2021, the amount of public procurement reached a record level of 151,8 billion euros, an amount never seen in the past 15 years after two years of health crisis. According to the same observatory, for the first half of 2022, public procurement amounted to 51,2 billion euros, up 6,5%. According to the outlook, the volume of public orders at the end of 2022 will be identical to, or even higher than, 2021.

Despite the strong potential for economic development represented by public procurement for companies (more than 163.000 contracts on average each year representing 89 billion euros), VSEs-SMEs do not benefit from it.

… marked by the difficulties of companies to access it

The history of this barometer begins with the observation that the State has never measured the attractiveness of public sector tenders for French companies and the difficulties of the latter in accessing public procurement.

The first lesson from this survey, centered on the BETIC branch, is the difficulty VSEs-SMEs have in accessing public markets. Indeed, more than half of the leaders questioned (53%) believe that it is difficult, even very difficult, to access public contracts. Even 65% of those polled believe that it is easier to access private markets and the median level of "difficulty", real or perceived, in accessing public procurement is 4 out of 5 (1 representing "very easy” and 5 “very difficult” access).

A public order rejected by companies for various reasons

Difficulties of access to public order by companies lead to the renunciation of the latter. According to the business leaders interviewed, a certain number of obstacles lead to this renunciation. The reasons most often cited being procedures that are too complex (70%), the image of a market that is difficult to open to new players (55%) or eligibility criteria that are too restrictive (35%). Also, the lack of clarity in the expression of needs (59%) and the excessive cost of the response (54%) constitute obstacles in the response of companies to public procurement.

Thus, if the activity of companies in the branch should naturally direct companies towards public procurement, more than half of the managers who responded to the survey (51.7%) reveal a share of public procurement in their turnover. less than 10%.

Obstacles leading to a crisis of confidence among economic actors in the public sector

These difficulties expressed by VSEs-SMEs result in mistrust of the public sector. Thus, 69% of the leaders questioned explain that the perceived opacity of the procedure or the payment delays exceeding the legal duration of 30 days hinder their confidence. Another striking figure from this barometer shows that more than 36% of these leaders observe practices that they consider abusive on the part of purchasing departments or public administrations, such as prior agreement upstream of the procedure (55%), pressure on prices (53%) or unpaid upstream work.

In addition, nearly 6 out of 10 leaders believe that they are not sufficiently informed about the specifics of public procurement, which does not encourage them to respond.

New regulations and improvements in the making

To overcome these difficulties, the public authorities have certainly put in place new regulations simplifying and strengthening the accessibility of public procurement vis-à-vis companies. Since the last five years, these regulations have mainly involved the dematerialization of procedures, the modernization of the Public Procurement Code and the definition of a purchasing strategy to open up competition. However, according to the barometer, 67% of those questioned did not feel any notable change since these new regulations, against 17% who felt the situation was improving. The barometer also shows that the dematerialization of procedures seems to have received a favorable response from managers (78%) who believe that this improvement facilitates the response to calls for tenders as well as their visibility. The possibility of responding as a group (47%) and the upgrading of technical criteria in relation to the price criterion (40%) are mostly mentioned by managers on the attractiveness and accessibility of public contracts.

For Frédéric Lafage, President of the Cinov Federation: “This study shows us for the first time in France the many difficulties of VSEs-SMEs in accessing public markets and the mistrust vis-à-vis the sector. However, we observe that the latest regulations put in place are moving in the right direction. The first results are coming in, but through this barometer, we want to challenge the public authorities to remind them of the importance of involving VSEs-SMEs in public procurement and of continuing the efforts initiated. »