Registration and morning coffee

Welcome

Moderator: Jan Telgen, Professor Emeritus of Public Procurement at University of Twente and Co-Director of the Public Procurement Research Centre

Introduction to contract award methods

• General overview of existing methods
• Legal background
• Weights and scores

Coffee break

Criteria and scoring:

Practical exercises

• Defining award criteria
• Determining score graphs
• Interpolation

Lunch

Relative scoring

• Impact and consequences
• Avoiding negative consequences

Minimum quality levels

Coffee break

My favorite method:

Awarding on Value

• Theory
• Practical training

Q & A

Thank you for today

We reserve the right to make changes, because we love to optimize.

Registration and morning coffee

Good Morning and Welcome!

• Introduction to negotiation theory

Hands-on Session 1: Bring your cases

• Negotiation tools and techniques in procurement contexts

Lunch

Hands‑on Session II: Written Q&A

• Using AI tools for procurement communication 

Hands‑on Session III: Negotiated procedures in practice

• Designing your own communication strategy

Wrap up and closing. Thank you so much for participating! 

We reserve the right to make changes, because we love to optimize.

Registration and breakfast

Welcome to the Nordic Public Procurement Forum 2026

By Nohrcon and the chair of the day, Dr Carri Ginter, Head of Dispute Resolution at Sorainen and Visiting Professor at the University of Tartu School of Law

Keynote: Farewell to the directives — one regulation for European procurement

Three directives are being replaced by a single regulation that applies directly in every Member State. No national implementation, no gold-plating, and no room for fifteen different readings of the same provision. What does that actually change for a contracting authority, and what does it change for a supplier working across borders? The keynote sets out the architecture of the proposal, the thinking behind it, and the questions that are still genuinely open as the proposal enters the legislative process.

Willem A. Janssen, Endowed Professor of Public Procurement Law, University of Groningen and Associate Professor, Utrecht University, and Kirsi-Maria Magga, Professor of Public Economic Law, University of Lapland

Read ahead: Expert opinion on the incoherence of EU public procurement regulation by Willem A. Janssen and Roberto Caranta (Publications Office of the EU, 2026).

Lunch

Who gets to participate? The proposed new framework for exclusion

The Commission’s proposed Public Procurement Act would introduce a number of changes to the EU rules on exclusion, including new exclusion grounds. This session will take a practical look at the current rules and the changes that are envisaged – from the extended list of exclusion grounds to the new limits on self-cleaning. We will explore what stays the same, what changes, and what this may mean for your next tender.

Dagne Sabockis, Jur.Dr., Senior Associate, Vinge (Sweden)

Securing contracts – when the winning bidder fails to deliver

What do you do when the contract is signed – and the winning bidder cannot deliver? A practical session on reopening and renewing procurement procedures: your options, your obligations, and the traps to avoid.

Erki Fels, Associate Partner, TEGOS (Estonia)

Coffee break: fuel up with coffee, snacks and cake

Dividing contracts into lots – the art and science of getting it right

Splitting a contract into lots opens the door for SMEs and sharpens competition – but how you divide, combine and award the lots can decide the outcome of the entire tender. Drawing on years of research and practice, this session shows what works, what backfires, and the traps hiding in the methods many buyers use without thinking twice.

Jan Telgen, Professor Emeritus, University of Twente, and Public Procurement Research Centre

National security, third countries and supply chains

Restrictions on bidders from Russia, Belarus and China. “Made in EU” requirements. Supply chains under pressure – and a proposal that gives security and resilience their own chapter in European procurement law for the first time. The session also covers the brand-new Advocate General opinion in Autovici and Skinest Baltija (8 September 2026) – the landmark cases on excluding bidders on national security grounds – and the judgment expected from the Court of Justice. What are the rules today, and where are they heading?

Šarūnas Neniškis, Associate Partner, Ellex (Lithuania)

Latest case law from the EU Court of Justice

We close the day with the rulings from the past year that procurement professionals actually need to know – from the grounds for excluding bidders to the limits of contract changes. What did the Court say, and what does it change in your daily practice? A fast-paced tour of the judgments shaping European procurement right now – followed by a short wrap-up of the day before we head to the conference dinner in Tivoli.

Marko Turudić, Full Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb

Join the conference dinner: On the evening of 18 November we host the conference dinner at Salonerne in Tivoli Gardens – a three-course menu of modern Nordic cuisine, including entrance to Tivoli. Seats are limited and separate registration is required.

Registration and morning coffee

Welcome to Day 2

By Nohrcon and the chair of the day, Dr Carri Ginter, Head of Dispute Resolution at Sorainen and Visiting Professor at the University of Tartu School of Law

Public procurement as a policy tool

Public procurement is increasingly used by the European Union to pursue goals far beyond the purchase itself: innovation, resilience, social objectives and industrial policy. But what does that mean in practice for the people who have to write the tender documents and evaluate the bids? The session looks at how policy ambitions translate into requirements and criteria – and where the legal and practical limits are.

Edgaras Markevičius, Counsel, Sorainen (Lithuania)

Procurement for social sustainability

Social sustainability is high on the political agenda – but turning ambitions into workable requirements and award criteria is where most organisations struggle. This session bridges the gap between the research and your next tender.

Sarah Schoenmaekers, Professor of European Economic Law, Maastricht University, and Professor of Construction Law, Hasselt University

Coffee break

Session to be announced

We are finalising this part of the program – stay tuned.

Lunch

AI in public procurement – the legal and strategic framework

Before you buy AI, use AI, or let AI anywhere near your award decisions, there are questions every procurement professional should be able to answer. One of Europe’s leading voices on procurement and digital technologies sets out the framework: what the rules require, what gaps remain in law and policy, where the real risks sit, and what a sensible AI strategy looks like for a contracting authority.

Albert Sanchez Graells, Professor of Economic Law, University of Bristol

Read ahead: Public Procurement of Artificial Intelligence: Recent Developments and Remaining Challenges in EU Law by Albert Sanchez-Graells (2024).

AI in practice at the European Medicines Agency

From framework to reality: how does a European institution actually work with AI in procurement? A hands-on case from the European Medicines Agency – what they have tried, what worked, what didn’t, and what they would tell other contracting authorities considering the same journey.

Alina Aalto and Ivo Xavier, European Medicines Agency

Coffee break

Meet Diella – the world’s first AI “minister”

You will not see this at any other procurement conference this year: a live, interactive conversation with Diella, the AI system appointed by the Albanian government with formal responsibility for public procurement and anti-corruption. What can an AI system actually do in a procurement process? Where does human oversight begin and end? And how far can – and should – AI realistically go in public procurement? Come with your questions, and form your own opinion.

Diella, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Albania

AI in public procurement in practice – Albania’s results and KPIs

Albania is not piloting AI in public procurement – it is running on it. In this TED-style session, you get the numbers behind the headlines: how AI is used across the procurement cycle, what the KPIs show so far, and what other countries can learn from the Albanian experience.

Jonaid Myzyri (Albania)

Goodbye and thank you for joining us!

We reserve the right to make changes, because we love to optimize.

Registration and morning coffee

Welcome!

By Nohrcon and the moderator of the day, Hjördís Halldórsdóttir, Partner and Attorney at Law, LOGOS

Latest case law from the Complaints Commission

The newest cases and developments from the Public Procurement Complaints Commission – and what they mean in practice for your next tender, whether you are a contracting authority or a bidder.

Reimar Pétursson, chairman of the Public Procurement Complaints Commission

Case study: running a complex competitive procedure – Iceland’s National Sports Center

Practical insight from one of Iceland’s major ongoing procurement projects: how do you design and manage a complex competitive procedure in a small market – and what do you learn along the way? Sigrún has played a key role in designing and running the procurement process for Iceland’s National Sports Center, and shares the real experience from the contracting authority’s side. Icelanders love discussing complex procurement procedures – here is your chance.

Sigrún Svava Valdimarsdóttir, Procurement Specialist, FSRE – Government Construction Contracting Agency

Lunch

Workshop: Dynamic Purchasing Systems

A hands-on workshop on getting the most out of Dynamic Purchasing Systems – specifically requested by last year’s Icelandic participants. Practical, interactive, and directly applicable to your own procurement work.

Hallbera Eiríksdóttir

Samstarf og samtakamáttur útboðsaðila

Hildur Georgsdóttir, Head of Procurement, Orkuveita Reykjavíkur / Reykjavik Energy

Coffee break

Closing legal session and panel discussion: One rulebook for Europe – seen from Iceland

In September, the European Commission presented its proposal for one single procurement regulation replacing all three directives – applying directly, with no national implementation. But what does that mean for Iceland and the EEA? Lára Herborg Ólafsdóttir opens the closing session with a legal look at exactly that question, and we continue into a panel discussion where you can join the debate and get answers to your questions before we round off the day – and the conference week.

Lára Herborg Ólafsdóttir, Partner and Attorney at Law, LEX Law Offices · panel to be announced · moderated by Hjördís Halldórsdóttir, Partner and Attorney at Law, LOGOS