New Public Procurement Directives

• Public procurement - Briefings
• Transport

13-02-2014

On Tuesday 11 February 2014, the General Affairs Council took the decision to adopt a new legislative package for the “modernisation of public procurement in the EU”.

Background

The decision of the Council relates to the adoption of new directives on: (i) public procurement; (ii) procurement by entities operating in the utilities sectors (water, energy, transport and postal services); and (iii) the award of concession contracts.

Prior to the meeting of the General Affairs Council, the new directives were presented to the Commission on 20 December 2011. These were then voted on by the European Parliament at the plenary session of 15 January 2014.

Key Areas

The new legislative package seeks to introduce a more simplified procurement system compared to the regime currently in place under the EU procurement rules. The aim is to provide a regime under which better procurement outcomes can be achieved by virtue of measures allowing for greater flexibility and a reduction in administrative hurdles.

Some of the key areas the new directives will cover include:

• the promotion of electronic procurement;
• new rules to promote the inclusion of common societal goals in the procurement process (including environmental protection, employment and public health);
• the introduction of measures to remove barriers for market access by SMEs; and
• a new "regime" to ensure contracting authorities take appropriate steps to address conflict of interest issues.

In an attempt to promote improvements in efficiency and ensure a consistent application of the new procurement directives across member states, the new directives will also include obligations on each member state to monitor and report on public procurement activity.