Natalia Spataru works on ESR Project 1 where she pursues a PhD programme at the University of Birmingham conducting her research on the procurement chapters of third-generation Free Trade Agreements as new instruments to further sustainability in procurement in their economic and political contexts under the supervision of the SAPIENS lead researcher Martin Trybus. Natalia recently published a co-authored scientific paper on “Covid-19 – the impetus for public service innovation. Advancing the shift towards social procurement”.

Article abstract

With the present and future being shaped by the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and worldwide responses to it, critical insights are essential. Covid-19 has profoundly influenced the lives of most people on the planet as well as the global market, some experts believing it has caused the worst economic decline since the Great Depression. The pandemic found States unprepared to face the challenges brought by it, exposing the vulnerabilities of individuals, societies and economies. A few months after the sparking of the first wave of Covid-19 it was possible to assess the earliest public intervention and to foresee how the virus is going to impact economic and social systems.

The exposure of the vulnerabilities of individuals, societies and economies has brought unparalleled challenges for governments to ensure not only the health of their citizens but also public service continuity, calling for a rethink of how economic and social activities are organised. This requests for strong responses based on solidarity, co-operation and responsibility and for a re-balancing of efficiency and resilience throughout the economic system. This study seeks to articulate and explore the role of procurement in anticipating the risk of market failure, despite the complicated business environment, and finding alternative solutions with relevant technical or demanding functions to the current economic situation.

There will be analysed the public procurement instruments of the European Commission (EC) and Italy – the first European nation to suffer heavily from the pandemic, at a stage of great uncertainty. Likewise, the focus will be drawn upon service innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a novel phenomenon, that contrasts with the common idea of service innovation as a primarily discretionary activity. The paper examines the EU soft law instruments designed to respond to economic and public health issues, through the prism of solidarity, focusing also on the analysis of the Italian response to the pandemic through public purchasing techniques.

The Article was published in the third issue of the European Journal of Public Procurement Markets, a peer-reviewed journal whose mission is to contribute to an interdisciplinary study of public procurement and of public markets presenting high-level scientific results in key areas such as the economics of public markets analyzing their nature and major trends, digital economics, innovation and public markets and others legal and economic aspects linked to International and EU public procurement systems.

The full article is now available in open access.