Democracy Plus (D+) requests from the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP) to cancel the procurement activity titled “Legal Consultants to support the drafting of secondary legislation for the Law on Social and Affordable Housing”, procurement number 210-25-7817-3-2-2, with an estimated value of €50,000.00. 

This activity has been initiated in violation of the rules applicable to the contracting of special services, specifically Article 57.2 of the Regulation no. 002/2024 on Public Procurement, which stipulates that consultants may only be contracted for services that cannot be provided through recruitment procedures under the Law on Public Officials (LPO). 

Moreover, this action contradicts institutional practices for drafting laws and secondary legislation in Kosovo, as MESP intends to contract an economic operator to draft the secondary legislation foreseen under the Law on Social and Affordable Housing. The drafting of laws and secondary legislation is the direct responsibility of the ministry itself, as outlined in the Regulation (GRK) No. 17/2024 on Rules of Procedure of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, specifically Subchapter II, which addresses special rules and procedures for the drafting of legislation. Furthermore, according to the official record of laws, published by the Assembly of Kosovo, the Law on Social and Affordable Housing was adopted on 05.12.2024, but has not yet been promulgated by the President of Kosovo and therefore has neither been published in the Official Gazette nor entered into force. 

It is worth emphasizing that during 2025, MESP has already engaged nine external experts in various fields, including legal experts for the Department of Social and Affordable Housing. Therefore, the contracting of additional legal consultants for the drafting of secondary legislation is not only unlawful but also represents an unnecessary cost for the contracting authority. 

In this context, outsourcing the drafting of secondary legislation undermines the legal and institutional responsibility of the ministry, jeopardizes the integrity of the legislative drafting process, and sets a harmful precedent for the use of external services in processes because competence and accountability rest within public institutions. 

For these reasons, D+ considers it essential that MESP cancels this procurement activity in order to safeguard integrity and ensure compliance with the Regulation as above on the drafting of legislation. 

Disclaimer: 

This reaction has been published with the financial support of the European Union and Smart Balkans. The contents of this reaction are the sole responsibility of Democracy Plus (D+) and do not represent the views of the European Union and SMART Balkans. The project “Encouraging transparent, accountable and efficient public money spending through public procurement in Kosovo”, is funded by the EU and SMART Balkans, and implemented by Democracy Plus (D+).