Italy’s qualification system is reaching beyond national borders, offering its experience as a potential model for the European Union. On October 12, 2026, CQOP SOA attended the presentation in Brussels of “Accelerating European Innovation Through Public Procurement” a report by General Catalyst, one of the world’s leading venture capital firms.

The report highlights how regulatory fragmentation hinders the development of the single market and proposes third-party attestation providers as a way to simplify public procurement procedures. This standardized approach, built on a common set of principles and a centralized digital infrastructure, shares important features with Italy’s SOA certification system. It could pave the way for greater integration and make it easier for companies to participate in cross-border public tenders.
Report di General Catalyst Institute

The role of the SOA certification in the European single market

The report presented by General Catalyst in Brussels examines some of the main challenges preventing the completion of the European single market, including the fragmentation of national qualification systems. To address this barrier, it proposes “third-party delegated attestation providers”: independent bodies that verify qualification requirements and issue attestations that can be reused across jurisdictions.

This model has significant similarities to the Italian SOA certification system, under which authorized bodies verify companies’ economic, technical, and organizational qualifications for carrying out public works.

Adopting these principles at EU level could:

  • Reduce duplication in document verification.
  • Simplify participation in public tenders across Member States.
  • Promote a more integrated European public procurement market.

International recognition for CQOP SOA

The parallels with the SOA certification system as a potential model for Europe represent meaningful recognition for the Italian qualification sector. The report also acknowledges the contribution of Desiderio Berdini, Chief Innovation Officer and Board Member of CQOP SOA, to the discussion of European approaches to the qualification of economic operators.

This recognition builds on extensive international research undertaken by CQOP SOA in collaboration with universities, research centers, and businesses. Reflecting these strong academic partnerships, Francesco Nicoli, Visiting Fellow at the Centro Studi sul Federalismo (CSF) and the Polytechnic University of Turin, was also present in Brussels. Companies that took part in CQOP’s surveys and research activities played an essential role, bringing the practical perspectives of economic operators into the European policy debate.
Desiderio Berdini con collega a Bruxelles
Desiderio Berdini con il report di General Catalyst

Towards a new European public procurement system

Building a more efficient European single market requires tools that facilitate the recognition of qualifications across Member States. The established experience of the SOA system offers a strong foundation for developing a European qualification model based on shared criteria, independent verification, and greater interoperability among national systems.

CQOP SOA hopes this international recognition will help strengthen dialogue among institutions, academia, and businesses and encourage concrete proposals for the future of public procurement in Europe.