Over the last few months there has been a succession of substantial changes to the Procurement Code, the first of which was published last 31 March in the Official Gazette (legislative decree 36/2023), in force from 1 April 2023 but actually operative from 1 July 2023. Illustrating the latest news on the subject, and the impact they have had on the world of certifications, is Dr Manolo Valori, Technical Director of CVI Italia, the Italian branch of the Slovakian group CVI SRO, one of the most important companies in the field of voluntary certifications with international accreditation.
by Roberta Imbimbo
Dr. Valori, how have the changes to the Procurement Code, introduced by legislative decree 36/2023, impacted gender equality certification?
Dr. Valori, how have the changes to the Procurement Code, introduced by legislative decree 36/2023, impacted gender equality certification?
A small premise is necessary. The certification for gender equality is a document that attests to the policies and concrete measures taken by employers to reduce the gender gap in relation to growth opportunities in the company, equal pay for equal work, gender management policies and maternity protection. This is a certification of great importance for companies that, by obtaining it, not only contribute to the development of an increasingly inclusive and sustainable economy, but can also access attractive tax breaks and obtain higher scores in public procurement rankings. The old Procurement Code (legislative decree no. 50/2016), the one in force until last 30 June, stipulated that contracting stations should indicate the bonus score awarded to holders of gender equality certification in accordance with UNI PdR 125:2022, a certification issued by an impartial third party. On the other hand, Article 108, paragraph 7 of the new Procurement Code (Legislative Decree no. 36/2023) states that contracting stations must award a “higher score to companies that certify, also by means of self-certification, that they meet the requirements set forth in Article 46-bis of Legislative Decree no. 198/2006”. In other words, this rule leaves it up to the contracting stations to verify the reliability of both the self-certification and the requirements possessed for the certification of gender equality. Precisely for this reason, it has met with disapproval from all those realities (technicians, operators, trade associations) that consider self-certification incapable of providing the same guarantees as a certificate issued by an accredited third party, especially if checked by a small contracting station that obviously may not have the technical expertise to judge whether or not the self-certified requirements meet the provisions of the law.
Is this the only substantial change made to the old Procurement Code?
Absolutely not! Another substantial change, between the old and the new version of the Code, concerns the reduction of the incentives provided for companies wishing to acquire gender equality certification. The Procurement Code 50/2016 granted the economic operator a 30% reduction of the deposit to participate in accreditation procedures (not cumulative with other reductions). The new Code, on the other hand, reduces this percentage to 20 per cent, but makes this reduction cumulative with other reductions linked to obtaining certifications or marks included in Annex II.13 of the Procurement Code. In the new Procurement Code, moreover, digitisation becomes the ‘engine’ for modernising the entire system of public contracts and the contract life cycle.
The amendments contained in Article 108, paragraph 7 of Legislative Decree No. 36/2023 were the subject of heated debate among the various stakeholders involved. It is no coincidence that the Decree-Law No. 57 of 29 May 2023 introduced new corrective provisions. Can you tell us about them?
Article 108 of the new Procurement Code was revised by the government, which chose to intervene through Article 2 of Decree-Law 57/2023 published on 29 May 2023, eliminating both the references to self-certification of gender parity certification and the verification of reliability. In fact, Decree-Law No. 57 of 29 May 2023 establishes that “in order to promote gender equality, contracting stations shall provide in the calls for tenders, notices and invitations, the highest score to be given to companies for the adoption of policies aimed at achieving gender equality proven by the possession of the gender equality certification referred to in Article 46 -bis of the Code of Equal Opportunities between men and women, referred to in Legislative Decree No. 198 of 11 April 2006.” In other words, today self-certification drawn up and signed by the company itself is no longer recognised; therefore, companies can only prove possession of gender equality certification by means of certificates verified by an impartial third-party body and merit the highest score awarded by the contracting station.
