Belgium – Financial and insurance services – Overheidsopdracht voor de uitvoering van diensten met betrekking tot prestaties van kassier voor de Gemeenschappelijke Gemeenschapscommissie

The public contract is a services contract for cashier services for the Brussels-Capital Region. The current contract will not be divided into lots. The cashier contract includes a set of services that an entity can expect from a bank. It is difficult, if not impossible, to divide the contract into lots, as all the services provided are interlinked: the management of the credit line influences the cash management and vice versa. Regarding the obligation to have a single cashier, it is noted that the Ordinance of 16 May 2024 on the Public Finance Code of the Brussels-Capital Region provides in Article 100, § 3 that: “Subject to the exceptions determined by the Joint Assembly, the Services of the Joint Assembly and the OAA OS entrust all their bank accounts to the cashier”. This obligation to have a single cashier therefore also applies to the OAA OS. It can be stated that the missions contained in the present special terms of reference essentially translate the legal obligations provided for a single cashier. The other services are ancillary. Indeed, for each of these missions, it is a matter of: - a service provided for in Article 1 of the Royal Decree of 6 August 1990 setting out the arrangements for the management of the treasury of the Communities, the Regions and the Brussels-Capital Region; - an ancillary service resulting from the obligation to open all accounts with the cashier provided for in Article 1 § 2 of the Decree of 6 August 1990; - a service for which it would make no sense to create a separate lot. The Brussels-Capital Region wishes to guarantee the availability of a sufficient minimum cash line to ensure the continuity of the public service, maintain the payment capacity and cope with any cash flow discrepancies. In the current budgetary context, marked by difficulties in obtaining banking finance, it is necessary to group the cashier services, banking services and cash line management services within a single contract. This approach ensures the coherence and stability of the financial arrangements. Maintaining the link between the credit line and the banking services is an essential element of good financial management for the Brussels-Capital Region. The missions provided for under the present public contract may also, in the event of activation of the review clause referred to in Article 38 of the Royal Decree of 14 January 2013 establishing the general rules for the execution of public contracts, be carried out for the benefit of the asbl New Samusocial and/or of Bruss’Help, these entities being responsible for carrying out the cashier missions on their own account.