The public procure­ment direc­tives are being scru­ti­nised.

In December last year, the European Commission called for an evaluation of the existing public procurement directives. These are the Directive on the award of concession contracts, the Directive on public procurement and the Directive on on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors. The consultation, which was completed on 7 March, is part of a comprehensive evaluation of current legislation.

Has the goal been achieved?

It has to be examined whether the EU Directives, which came into force in 2014, are still appropriate ten years after their adoption and have proven their worth in terms of their objectives. These consist of ensuring the efficient use of public funds, strengthening competition in the single market and promoting the transparency and integrity of public spending. The Commission would like to have clarity on this by the 3rd quarter of this year. A specific proposal for the revision of the legal framework is to follow in 2026.

More flex­i­bility required

With a view to the general revision of the public procurement regulations, the DSV believes that a more flexible approach to the regulations is particularly desirable. The current regulations are too rigid at various places and some deadlines seem unnecessarily long. In some cases, desirable collaborations - for example, in the context of mutual support between administrations - are prevented by excessively high requirements. Over ten years of practical experience should allow the assumption that the threshold values that apply in concession and contract award practice, which among other things determine the scope of tenders, need to be adjusted.   

Legal certainty for supple­men­tary award criteria

As part of the consultation on public procurement law, the DSV also pointed out the legal uncertainties that exist under current law if the bidders with the lowest price are not to be the only ones to be awarded the contract. Even before the general revision of the public procurement regulations, the Critical Medicines Act (CMA) is intended to take a first step in this direction. A draft was presented by the European Commission on 11 March (confer News 3/2025). For the tendering of critical medicines, this provides for the conditional application of award criteria that favour products that are wholly or primarily manufactured in the European Union. In principle, the DSV is in favour of this step, provided it is implemented with minimal bureaucracy and legal certainty.