What policy space for diaconal institutions? Challenges from public procurement

Abstract

Procurement processes with tender competition have been a preferred approach for engaging service providers in Norway. Even if the present Norwegian government finds it “essential that competition becomes an integral part of all public activity,” a simultaneous push for preserving the welfare mix of Norway has occurred, with public, non-profit, and for-profit actors. What specific measures are being undertaken to preserve the non-profit actors? How have the Norwegian authorities sought to utilize the policy space that the EU/EEA (European Economic Area) provides? The article concludes that Norway has a wide policy space for providing public health and welfare services through non-profit actors, but that this policy space is reduced if public procurement is chosen as the primary strategy for engaging non-public actors, whether non-profit or for-profit, to provide these services.