The rules for military procurement through SAFE, established today by the Government. The stake: 16.5 billion euros for urgent investments in Defense

The government wants to establish on Thursday, by emergency ordinance, the stages, the public authorities involved and the rules for military public procurement through SAFE, a 16.5 billion euro European program. In order to access this money, Romania must send an application to the European Commission by November 30, accompanied by an investment plan for the European defense industry.

The Government of Romania, through the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, will transmit and negotiate with the European Commission, through the Permanent Representation of Romania to the European Union, the projects proposed for accessing the SAFE financing instrument, as well as the supporting documentation, the requests for financial assistance accompanied by the investment plans, according to the draft emergency ordinance on the Executive's table on Thursday.

A working group, led by the head of the Chancellery, will review all investments through SAFE

The project provides for the establishment of an inter-institutional working group, led by the head of the Prime Minister's Chancellery, which will analyze all project proposals and produce an analysis document, which will be proposed for approval to the Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT), the authority entrusted with the organization and unitary coordination of activities related to the country's defense and national security.

The working group includes, as permanent members, representatives of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, the Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI).

Additionally, at the invitation of the head of the Prime Minister's Chancellery, depending on the project that is the subject of the analysis, representatives of the Ministry of Transport, the Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE), the Special Telecommunications Service (STS), the Protection and Security Service (SPP), as well as other public authorities may participate in the work of the Working Group.

The operation and nominal composition of the Working Group are established by the Prime Minister, by decision.

In fact, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced last week that the Government and the German group Rheinmetall reached an agreement on industrial cooperation and the supply of state-of-the-art military equipment that will be financed from the SAFE program.

“In the coming days, all the details will be clarified, so that the possible cooperation will be approved by the Supreme Council of Defense of the Country in the first meeting in November, so that Romania's package for accessing the over 16.5 billion euros allocated through SAFE will be finalized,” Bolojan said then.

Military procurement can be done through negotiation. New rules

The draft emergency ordinance also provides that the awarding of public procurement contracts can be done by negotiation, without the prior publication of an announcement to participate in an auction, but with the obligation to introduce in the awarding documentation certain cooperation requirements, aspects that are provided in art. 19 of the SAFE instrument.

In this sense, the project establishes certain benchmarks for the identification of the economic operators considered for the award of the public procurement contract or the member state/international organization through which the joint procurement will be carried out, as the case may be.

If several potential suppliers of a product have been identified that meet the operational or similar requirements and cooperation requirements, the working group analyzes the responses received to the requests for information and prepares for each project a descending ranking, achieved by applying the evaluation factors and relative weights, as follows:

• a) delivery terms – weight 40%;
• b) purchase price – weight 60%.

Based on the information obtained, the working group draws up an analysis document for each project, which the head of the Prime Minister's Office submits to the Prime Minister for approval.

“The analysis documents drawn up by the working group and approved by the prime minister proposing the economic operator with which the negotiation procedure will be carried out without the prior publication of a notice of participation or the member state or the international organization through which the joint purchase will be carried out are submitted by the head of the Prime Minister's Chancellery for approval to the Supreme Council of National Defense”, the draft GEO also states.

Exemption for new hires in the National Defense System

In order to carry out and run the purchases associated with the endowment programs through SAFE, the Government says that it is necessary to ensure a qualified human resource, which cannot be attracted at present due to the restrictions imposed by the provisions of art. VII paragraph. (1) of the Government Emergency Ordinance no. 156/2024 regarding some fiscal-budgetary measures in the field of public expenditures.

In this sense, through the draft GEO, a derogation will be granted so that the vacant positions in the composition and direct subordination of the General Directorate for Armaments of the Ministry of National Defense, as well as the vacant positions in the other public authorities within the National Defense System Forces, can be filled by competition or examination, within the limit of 10 positions each, within the approved budget limits.

Another derogation provides that “the delegations of the Ministry of National Defense, respectively of the other public authorities, may exceed two people, in the case of trips abroad carried out for the purpose of initiating and/or carrying out acquisitions in the fields of defense and security, with the approval of the minister or the head of the public authority”.