ABSTRACT
A firm operating on a public market as a second-tier or higher-tier subcontractor cannot benefit from the very short payment terms required of public purchasers, but the payment deadlines of the private sector are applied. For higher-value contracts, it imposes a partial reservation, equivalent to the allotment, and requires large companies to provide a ‘subcontracting plan’ showing the share to which special enterprises are entitled. In terms of principles, the strategy of some countries in terms of companies’ access to public procurement is based on incentives to act and some limited obligations. As for systematically discarding abnormally low tenders, the public procurement code allows the buyer to reject an abnormally low tender. The delays observed are very significantly lower than what is observed in the business-to-business credit. Promoting social or environmental objectives by introducing specific clauses in the criteria for awarding or executing public contracts is also possible in law.
