Each year since 2018, the CHEVRIER & FAVARI law firm has taken part in a conference dedicated to public procurement in Luxembourg, an event organised by SKOLAE Training. This conference brought together practitioners and experts in public law to discuss the legal, technological and environmental developments that are transforming public procurement in Luxembourg and Europe.

On this occasion, Maître Thibault CHEVRIER, Partner at the firm, accompanied by Maître Sabrina LARDJANE and Maître Raffaëla FERRANDINO, spoke as panellists.

Their participation illustrates the firm’s ongoing commitment to providing strategic legal advice to public purchasers and economic operators faced with increasingly complex regulatory frameworks.

Thibault CHEVRIER, Lawyer at the Luxembourg Bar and founding partner of CHEVRIER & FAVARI, chaired this day of news on public procurement. He is also a member of the Artificial Intelligence Commission of the Luxembourg Bar, a position that brings a particularly operational dimension to the debates, firmly rooted in current institutional thinking.

In a context where digital and algorithmic tools are gradually becoming established in administrative practices, Thibault CHEVRIER spoke on the following topic: ‘AI in public procurement: what are the challenges for public purchasers and economic operators in Luxembourg?’. This presentation provided a clear, legal and pragmatic framework for the use of artificial intelligence in public procurement procedures.

1. Artificial intelligence and public procurement: opportunities and legal vigilance

Maître Thibault CHEVRIER’s presentation first highlighted several concrete cases of AI use in public procurement. In particular, he mentioned the use of tools to assist in the drafting of contractual clauses, which can improve the consistency and legal certainty of consultation documents.

AI can also be used to analyse bids, facilitating the processing of large volumes of data, and to analyse specifications by suppliers, in order to identify key market requirements more quickly.

However, this drive for innovation cannot be separated from an in-depth reflection on the limitations of artificial intelligence. In this context, the need to maintain effective human intervention has been emphasised, both to ensure equal treatment of candidates and to prevent bias in predictive tools. Compliance with the fundamental principles of public procurement, such as transparency and non-discrimination, remains an absolute imperative.

2. Environmental considerations in public procurement: a comparative approach

Maître Raffaëla FERRANDINO and Maître Sabrina LARDJANE, lawyers at CHEVRIER & FAVARI, spoke on another major theme in contemporary public procurement: environmental considerations in public procurement.

Their presentation provided a detailed overview of the current situation, while opening up concrete prospects for purchasers and businesses.

They began by analysing the integration of environmental criteria into competitive bidding processes, reviewing the applicable legal framework and the leeway available to contracting authorities.

This integration requires rigorous drafting of criteria and conditions of performance to ensure their legal certainty and effectiveness.

The speakers also highlighted the main pitfalls of this approach, in particular the risk of vague or difficult-to-verify criteria, which could weaken the procedures. They emphasised the importance of appropriate control mechanisms and of anticipating operational constraints for economic operators.

The presentation was enriched by a comparative approach between France and Luxembourg, with concrete feedback on eco-responsible public procurement.

This comparison provides food for thought for Luxembourg stakeholders, in a context where environmental requirements are becoming increasingly important in European public policy, as evidenced by the guidelines issued by the European Commission.

Finally, Maîtres FERRANDINO and LARDJANE addressed the essential issue of verifying compliance with environmental commitments during the implementation phase, a step that is often underestimated but crucial to the credibility of sustainable procurement initiatives.

3. Recognised expertise in public procurement law in Luxembourg

Through our active participation in this leading event, we are confirming our position as a committed and recognised player in public procurement law in Luxembourg.

The joint presentation by our lawyers demonstrates a cross-disciplinary approach, combining legal expertise, an understanding of technological issues and sensitivity to environmental concerns.

We provide day-to-day support to public purchasers and economic operators, offering pragmatic, rigorous legal advice tailored to current developments in public procurement. Please do not hesitate to contact us for any information on public procurement in Luxembourg.