Imitating private business in public procurement: Swedish ’affärsmässigt’
| Date | 01 March 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JOPP-07-02-2007-B004 |
| Published date | 01 March 2007 |
| Pages | 213-27 |
| Author | Karsten Åström,Jan Bröchner |
| Subject Matter | Public policy & environmental management,Politics,Public adminstration & management,Government,Economics,Public Finance/economics,Texation/public revenue |
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT, VOLUME 7, ISSUE 2, 213-227 2007
IMITATING PRIVATE BUSINESS IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT:
SWEDISH ‘AFFÄRSMÄSSIGT’
Karsten Åström and Jan Bröchner*
ABSTRACT. While implementing the EC Procurement Directives in Swedish
legislation, there remains a reference to ‘business-like’ (affärsmässig)
practice as an external system of norms. The problem is that the term a.
might contradict non-economic considerations in the award of contracts.
Municipal procurement is often managed by professionals with limited legal
expertise, and diverging practices are found. In recent years, the term a. has
spread to court practice in other fields and even to one act belonging to
private law. The term a. appears as a chameleon, since when used in a
context of private law, it conveys a sense of transparency and objectivity
traditionally associated with the operation of the legal system rather than
with private business practices.
INTRODUCTION
In 1973, a new wording of the award criterion for bids was
introduced in the Swedish Public Procurement Ordinance: “taking into
account all ‘business-like’ (affärsmässigt) given circumstances are to
be viewed as most advantageous with respect to the purpose of the
procurement”. This expression was retained when Sweden
implemented the relevant EC procurement directives shortly before
joining the European Union in 1995. Today, the term affärsmässigt
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* Karsten Åström, LL.D., is Professor of Sociology of Law, Lund University,
Sweden. His teaching and research interests lie in normative processes and
legal aspects of social and environmental sustainability. Jan Bröchner,
Ph.D., is Chair Professor of Organization of Construction, Chalmers
University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden. His interests are in the
management of construction and facilities.
Copyright © 2007 by PrAcademics Press
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