Global Government Contracting: Europe A-L

Country Contact

Floran Pustina
Partner, Tashko Pustina Attorneys

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of 'green' contracting opportunities?

Government tenders are advertised in the public pages of the following Albanian Institutions:

• Public Procurement Agency

• Public Procurement Commission

• Concession Treatment Unit (ATRAKO)

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

It depends on the Tender Documents (Terms of Reference). The bidder may be requested to establish an SPV after the award of the contract, or the bid may be submitted directly by the SPV, depending on the Terms of Reference (ToR) requirements. For example, the Albanian Law no. 125/2013 “On Concessions and Public Private Partnership”, amended, provides that the contracting authority may request that the contract is signed by an SPV established in Albania by the successful bidder.

Furthermore, the ToR may provide for the legal form of the SPV, the minimum amount of capital, the obligations of the SPV and the liability of the bidder and its SPV against the contracting authority, etc.

Is there any requirement for 'local content'?

Albania has recently adopted new legislation in this respect, namely the Law no. 79/2021 “For foreigners”. Pursuant to Article 78 (Labor market and annual employment quotas of foreigners) of the law, the Albanian government sets annual quotas by 1st of October of each year for the employment of foreigners for the following year.

Annual quotas for the employment of foreigners are determined taking into account the analysis of skills needs in the Albanian labor market, projects for economic development in certain sectors and the manpower required for those sectors.

Currently, there are no published quotas approved by the government. This is most probably due to the fact that the Albanian legislation on foreigners has been adopted only recently and approval of quotas for foreign employees in Albania represents a novelty for Albania (the former legislation provided some requirements in this respect, which nonetheless were not enforced in the labor market).

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

The main Albanian corpus of law regarding public procurement, PPP and concessions, consists of the following:

Public procurement

• Law No. 162/2020 on Public Procurement

• The Council of Ministers decision dated 09.06.2022 for the creation and operation of the state agency of represented procurements and the charge of this agency for carrying out special public procurements procedures in the name and on behalf of the prime minister, ministers and dependent institutions.

• Instruction no. 05, dated 29.07.2022 for some changes in the technical manual accompanying instruction no. 05, date 25.06.2021 "on the use of the low value procedure and its development by electronic means" instruction no. 05, dated 29.07.2022

The relevant laws can be accessed here.

Procurements in the field of defence and security

• Law No. 36/2020 “On procurement in the defence and security industry”

• Decision no. 1170, dated 24.12.2020 for the approval of procurement rules in the field of defence and security

Concessions/PPP

• Law No. 125/2013 Amended by Law No. 88/2014 Law No. 77/2015 Law No. 50, dated 18.07.2019 "For concessions and public private partnership"

• Decision no. 575 dated 10.7.2013 for the approval of the rules for the evaluation and awarding of concessions public private partnership amended defence and security

For the laws see here and here.

Auctions

• Law no. 9874, dated 14.2.2008 as amended by Law 12/2017

• Decision no. 1719, dated 17.12.2008 "For the approval of public auction rules "amended with VKM no. 33 dated 19.1.2011, VKM no. 692, dated 18.10.2011, VKM no. 308 dated 10.4.2013"

For the laws see here.

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

No, Albania is not a member state of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). Please note that the country applied for GPA accession on 2nd October 2001.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

Not applicable.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

Government procuring entities (generally referred to under the Albanian legislation as contracting authorities).

Which types of contracts are covered?

Law no. 162/2020 for public procurement lists the following types of contracts:

• Public contracts;

• Classical sector contracts;

• Sectoral contracts;

• Consulting contracts;

• Public supply contract;

• Public contract for work;

• Public contracts for services;

• Mixed contracts.

Furthermore, the same law establishes the standard procurement procedures. More specifically (Article 41 of the law), the contracting authority in determining the winners of public contracts shall apply the procedures such as:

• Open procedure;

• Limited procedure;

• Competitive procedure with negotiation, which is used only in the case of contracts in the classical sector;

• Partnerships for innovation;

• Competitive dialogue;

• Procedure with negotiation with prior publication of the notice, which is used only in the case of Sectoral contracts;

• Procedure with negotiation without prior announcement of contract notification;

• Open simplified procedure.

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

There are only a few exemptions provided by Law no. 162/2020 for public procurement where a direct award of a contract is allowed in industries such as national defence and security, or in relation to classified information, or when the goods/services may be provided by specific economic operators only, as well as in cases of public-private partnership entities or joint ventures, which despite the private investment/equity, are controlled by public entities/authorities.

Moreover, the same exemption applies in cases of acquisition or rental of land or other immovable property or related rights. 

In addition to that, there have been cases when, the Albanian government, due to the urgency or high public interest, in industries such as health or construction, has adopted specific criteria for awarding public contracts directly to specific economic operators (through decisions of the Council of Ministers).

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

Yes, the Recommendation on the design of qualification criteria for procurement procedures for goods, works, services recommendation no. 1797/1 prot., dated 10.03.2022.

Key procurement resources

Please see the resources identified and linked to above,

Country Contact

Jasna Zwitter-Tehovnik
Partner, DLA Piper

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities?

All government tenders must be advertised online here. This obligation applies to contracting authorities if the tender supersedes the set-out thresholds . If government tenders do not supersede the relevant threshold, the contracting authority can decide if they wish to publish such tender.

In addition, government tenders exceeding relevant EU thresholds must also be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Nevertheless, government tenders can also be published on websites and/or any other media by contracting authorities, if they wish to do that.

There are no specific or other rules for "green" contracting opportunities.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

There are no rules specifying where the bidders must be established. Generally, bidders established in any jurisdiction can participate in government tenders.

However, the contracting authorities are allowed to state specific conditions (i.e. geographic location) in tender notifications, as long as such conditions are objective and proportionate. Such conditions could prevent bidders residing or domiciled in other countries (other than Austria) from being chosen as a contracting party and awarded the tender.

Is there any requirement for ‘local content’?

Overall, bidders must prove their professional suitability and reliability, their technical capacity and their economic and financial standing. The requirements and evidence to be provided by the bidders are determined by the contracting authority in accordance with guidelines provided by the law (see below). When proving professional suitability, the bidder must be able to provide evidence of any professional qualifications obtained, if required to do the job in compliance with Austrian law. The evidence of the required ability or suitability can be substituted by a third party if it cannot be provided by the bidder directly. In addition, bidders providing services in Austria need to provide a statement that no fine was imposed on them by the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (Österreichische Gesundheitskasse), indicating that they are fully compliant with the General Social Insurance Act (Allgemeines Sozialversicherungsgesetz).

In any event, bidders shall be excluded from participating in award procedures, particularly in cases of:

• final judgement against them because of participation in a criminal organisation, corruption, fraud or money laundering activities;

• bankruptcy or reorganisation procedures started against them by the competent authorities;

• liquidation or winding-up the entities;

• if conflict of interest exists, but it cannot be eliminated through less drastic measures;

• performance in earlier public contracts showing major or permanent deficiencies;

• bidders have shown misrepresentation in providing relevant information.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

Public procurement is regulated by:

• Federal Public Procurement Act 2018 (Bundesvergabegesetz 2018, BVergG 2018),

• Federal Public Procurement Act for Concessions 2018 (Bundesvergabegesetz Konzessionen 2018, BVergGKonz),

Appeal procedures are regulated by nine Federal State Acts that determine State Administrative Courts (Landesverwaltungsgerichte) competent for appeal proceedings for review of decision of contracting authorities (when they fall under federal states or municipalities). BVergG 2018 only regulates appeal procedure when jurisdiction is provided for by the Federal Administrative Court in Vienna (Bundesverwaltungsgericht).

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

Austria is a party to the GPA.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

If the procurement is covered by the international trade agreement, such procurement would be excluded from domestic (Austrian) procurement law.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

Entities subjected to Public Procurement Laws:

• The applicability of the above Acts depends on whether the contractor also bears the exploitation risk (das Verwertungrisiko) of his service in addition to the usual performance risk.

• Federal Defence and Security Procurement Act 2012 (Bundesvergabegesetz Verteidigung und Sicherheit 2012 BVergGVS);

• Covers contracts (either concessions or orders) for procurement of: (a) military equipment, (b) sensitive gear (die Ausrüstung) and associated (construction) parts, (c) construction works and services directly related to military equipment or sensitive equipment, (d) works or services specifically for military purposes.

• BVergG 2018 does not apply when special provisions of BVergGVS prevail.

• public purchasers (Federal Government, Federal States, municipalities and municipal associations – i.e. territorial entities);

• all entities which are (a) controlled, financed or supervised by territorial entities, (b) have at least partial legal capacity and (c) were founded for the specific purpose of fulfilling tasks in the general interest of a non-commercial nature (e.g. hospitals, universities);

• associations that consist of one or more public purchasers described above.

Additional entities subject to BVergGKonz (i.e. entities subjected to act regulating concessions award procedures):

• public entities in sector specific services: gas, heath, electricity, transport, ports, airports, post, production of oil, gas and exploration or production of coal, or other solid fuels;

• entities given such powers by competent authority.

Which types of contracts are covered?

Generally, supply, service and construction contracts awarded by the relevant contracting authority are subject to the procurement regulations.

The following thresholds are in place:

• public service and public supply contracts (Public Service Directive): EUR 215.000,00 or EUR 140.000,00 (specified contracting authorities (eg ministries);

• public service and public supply contracts (Utilities Directive, Defence Directive): EUR 431.000,00;

• public construction contracts (Public Sector Directive, Utilities Directive, Defence Directive): EUR 5.382.000,00;

• concession contracts (Concession Contracts Directive): EUR 5.382.000,00;

BVergG 2018, BVergGKonz and BVergGVS also apply below these thresholds. Whether the contract exceeds the threshold is subject to the scope of applicable regulations.

BVergG 2018: contracts that do not exceed a value of EUR 100.000,00 may be awarded directly (higher threshold if the contracting authority had previously done a market survey.). The contracts excluded from the BVergG 2018 regulation are contracts concerning real estate, employment, arbitration, bank and financial services, research, development and broadcasting services, in-house and public-public cooperation and certain international contracts.

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

BVergG 2018:

• Direct award procedure (Direktvergabe) (without prior notice) is permissible for orders under EUR 100.000,00;

• Direct award procedure (with prior notice) is permissible, if the estimated contract value for supply and service contracts is below EUR 130.000,00 and for construction contracts below EUR 500.000,00.

BVergGVS

• In case of direct award procedure (without prior notice), it is permissible if the estimated order does not reach EUR 75.000,00.

• In case of direct award procedure (with prior notice), it is permissible, if the estimated contract value for supply and service contracts is below EUR 200.000,00 and for construction contracts below EUR 500.000,00.

Although BVergGKonz does not mention the possibility of direct award procedure for the contracting authorities, there may be cases under which a concession may be awarded directly, if:

• there were no suitable offers or no suitable requests to participate in a previous regular proceeding; or

• the tender may only be awarded to a single entity due to its unique characteristics.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

No.

Key procurement resources

See above.

Country Contacts

Bob Martens
Partner, DLA Piper

Bérénice Wathelet
Counsel, DLA Piper

Alec Van Vaerenbergh
Counsel, DLA Piper

Maëlle Rixhon
Lawyer, DLA Piper

Matthias Stinissen
Senior lead lawyer, DLA Piper

Andi Zrza
Lawyer, DLA Piper

Félix Leyman
Lead lawyer, DLA Piper

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of 'green' contracting opportunities?

EU-wide tenders have to be advertised on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily).

In addition, there is a variety of national databases advertising government tenders. The one currently used is enot.publicprocurement.be. For the 2000-2010 period, mention should be made of ejustice. A new platform will be available by the end of the first trimester of 2023.

Other sources include Public Procurement Wallonia.

There is no specific database focusing on "green" contracting opportunities.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

The public procurement legislation does not require that bidders are established in the Belgian jurisdiction in order to be able to take part in public tenders.

Pursuant to article 25 of the 2014/24/EU directive and to article 4 of the 17th June 2016 statute on public procurement, economic operators from countries that are bound by the Agreement on Government Procurement of 15th April 1994 or other international conventions must be treated in the same way as economic operators from the European Union.

Is there any requirement for 'local content'?

Not applicable.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

The main applicable procurement legislation includes :

• 17th June 2016 statute on public procurement

• 13th August 2011 statute on public procurement and certain works, supplies and services contracts in the defence and security area

• 17th June 2016 statute on concessions

• 17th June 2013 statute on the motivation, information and remedies regarding public procurement and certain works, supplies and services contracts

• For Flemish Region, 18th  July 2003 decree on public-private partnership, which only applies to the Flemish authority’s PPP’s

• For Brussels-Capital Region, 8th May 2014 statute on the inclusion of environmental and ethical clauses in public procurement

Royal decrees / Governmental orders complement the above-mentioned statutes.

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

Belgium has not ratified the GPA itself but is indirectly bound as an EU member state.

In addition, the EU has ratified several other trade agreements which contain procurement regulations. See report from the Commission The European economic area agreement also contains procurement commitments.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

Belgium’s public procurement legislations is aligned with the EU public procurement legislation. Thus, if a decision is made at EU level to implement certain international trade provisions related to public procurement, such will be transposed into local legislation or will apply directly.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

The following entities, defined as “contracting authorities”, have the obligation to comply with the public procurement legislation (17th June 2016 statute on public procurement, art. 2, 1°):

• the State

• Regions, Communities and local authorities

• bodies governed by public law and persons insofar as they perform non-commercial tasks in the general interest and are predominantly controlled or financed by the public sector

• associations formed by one or more such authorities

Also, an obligation to apply the legislation on utilities procurement belongs, in addition to the above-mentioned contracting authorities, to contracting entities, namely (17th June 2016 statute on public procurement, art. 2, 5°):

• public enterprises (legal entities controlled by the above-mentioned contracting authorities) and

• private entities exercising one of the covered activities on the basis of special or exclusive rights.

The same definition applies when it comes to concessions and to defence matters.

Which types of contracts are covered?

With regard to concessions, the 17th June 2016 (see art. 3) statute on concessions applies to:

• works concessions

• service concessions: minimum threshold of EUR 5.382.000

• works concessions by persons enjoying special or exclusive right or by public enterprises in some cases: minimum threshold of EUR 5.382.000

It is to be noted that some provisions apply notwithstanding the above-mentioned threshold.

With regard to public procurement in respect of defence matters: no threshold is to be mentioned (for the European thresholds, see below)

With regard to public procurement (normal and utilities):

• With respect to procurements with an estimated value below EUR 30,000, the application of the statute is limited to Title 1 (with art. 12 and 14 excepted) and to the provisions of Chapter I, Title II or III on the scope (ratione personae and ratione materiae)

• Negotiated procedures without prior call are possible when the stakes are below EUR 140,000 (with some exceptions)

• Negotiated procedure with prior call for competition (utilities) are possible when the stakes are below EUR 431,000

  More generally, the European thresholds are the following: 

• Work contracts: EUR 5,382,000 (also for Utilities - Defence and security)

• Supply and service contracts: EUR 215,000 / EUR 431,000 (Utilities - Defence and security) Supply and service contracts for listed federal authorities: EUR 140,000 Social services contracts: EUR 750,000 / EUR 1,000,000 (Utilities)

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

There are various types of exemptions applying to the 17th June 2016 statute on public procurement:

• Contracts regarding electronic communications: Title 2 does not apply, but Title 1 (notably the general principles of equality, non-discrimination, transparency and proportionality) do.

• Specific exclusions for service contracts (the acquisition, rental or leasing, by whatever financial means, of land, existing buildings or other immovable property or rights thereon; arbitration and conciliation services; arbitration and conciliation services; employment contracts; certain legal services; certain financial services; certain public transportation services; certain services linked to political campaigns; certain public contracts with defence or security aspects or requiring secrecy loans): the above-mentioned law does not apply.

• Service contracts awarded on the basis of an exclusive right: the above-mentioned law does not apply.

• Public contracts between entities within the public sector ("in house" and "non-institutionalised horizontal cooperation"): the above-mentioned law does not apply

• Research and development services: the above-mentioned law does not apply.

Regarding the utilities procurements, see article 108 and following of the 17th June 2016 statute on public procurement.

Regarding concessions, the law does not apply to:

• service concessions based on an exclusive right

• concessions governed by other sets of legislation

• Certain services (cf. supra)

• Certain concessions involving matters related to water

• Concessions related to electronic communications

• Concessions between procuring entities (in house)

• Non-institutionalised horizontal cooperation

• Certain concessions regarding activities in third countries

Regarding defence contracts, mention should be made of the 13th August 2011 statute on public procurement and certain works, supplies and services contracts in the defence and security area, article 18.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

No, nothing substantial.

Key procurement resources

• Cour des Comptes report on public procurement at the federal level

• Chronique des marchés publics, EBP consulting

• Public procurement website

• The IFSD Sustainable Public Procurement Working Group

Relevant publications

• Burgerrechtelijke uitspraken anno 2022 (in Dutch)
  
  
• Judiciaire
  
  
• Revu Gauthier

Country contacts

Nihad Sijerčić
Partner, Karanović & Partners

Leonid Ristev
Counsel, Karanović & Partners

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities?

Government tenders are announced on the Public Procurement Portal (Portal), which enables publication of tender requirements and documentation as well as court decisions related to tender procedures.

In addition, summaries of all government tenders, including green contracting opportunities, are published in the Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), while the contracting authority may publish the notices in other publications or on other websites, under the condition that these notices cannot be published prior to the day of their publication on the Portal. Such additionally published notices may not contain information other than that published on the Portal.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

Generally, foreign bidders can, and they regularly do, participate in public procurement procedures in BiH without needing to set up a corporate subsidiary in the jurisdiction.

However, certain areas regulated by specific laws, require the local presence of a bidder, such as for the supply of pharmaceuticals and medicinal products. 

Is there any requirement for ‘local content’?

No, there are no specific requirements for local content in government tenders, i.e. complete or partial involvement of local workforce, resources or capital. This applies also to sectoral procurement (such as PPPs and energy-related procurements).

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

The main law governing public procurement is the Law on Public Procurement. 

The Law on Public Procurement also sets out the basic framework for procurement in the area of defence and security whilst detailed provisions are prescribed by the Decree on Defence and Security Procurements.

With regard to PPPs, the procedure which applies to the procurement of PPPs is either the abovementioned Law on Public Procurement or the relevant law on public private partnership. There are 12 laws on PPP in BiH, one in Republic of Srpska (RS), and 10 in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBH), one for each canton, and one in Brčko District Bosnia and Herzegovina (BD) as well.

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

No, BiH has not ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

However, there are several bilateral agreements which contain provisions envisaging the general intention of parties to promote competition and eliminate restrictions from participating in public procurements.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

Under Bosnian law, ratified international agreements prevail over national laws, meaning that, in the case of a conflict, their provisions derogate the general national rules. In practice, this is not a notable issue for most international agreements which contain general commitments only.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

Public procuring entities include: (i) state and entities authorities, (ii) local self-government authorities (e.g. cities and municipalities), (iii) legal entities established for the purpose of satisfying needs of general interest, whereas such needs do not have industrial or commercial character, under condition that the respective entities are (a) financed, for the most part, from public funds, or (b) a public procuring entity monitors the work of such legal entities, or (c) more than a half of the members of such legal entities' supervisory or managing authorities are appointed by a public procuring entity, and (iv) groups of the procuring entities identified under points (i) – (iii) above.

Sectoral procuring entities are entities (i.e. public procuring entities and certain other entities) which perform so-called sectoral activities, i.e. activities in the field of water supply, energy, traffic and postal services.

There is also a detailed list of exceptions, describing circumstances under which the Law on Public Procurement will not be applicable. For example, in cases where the public procurement contract is declared a state secret, or the execution of public procurement contract needs to be accompanied by special security measures, procurements of real estate etc.

When it comes to compliance with the procurement framework under the PPP Law, all public entities procuring a public-private partnership are required to adhere to the PPP Law. The definition of public entities under the PPP Law is quite wide and encompasses a variety of entities with a slight or majority "public" element.

Which types of contracts are covered? 

Generally, the Law on Public Procurement regulates contracts in respect of the public procurement of goods, services or works.

The thresholds for application of specific procedures are regulated as follows:

• when the value of the procurement is below BAM 50,000 (approx. EUR 25,000) in respect of supplies and services, or BAM 80,000 (approx. EUR 40,000) in respect of works, the contracting authority may apply one of the procedures defined in the Law on Public Procurement, except for direct agreements, and shall have to meet the requirements regulated for each specific procedure;

• when the value of procurement of supplies, services and works amounts to or exceeds the values of BAM 50,000 (approx. EUR 25,000) for goods and services or BAM 80,000 (approx. EUR 40,000) for works and is below the values of BAM 250,000 (approx. EUR 125,000), BAM 400,000 (approx. EUR 200,000), BAM 800,000 (approx. EUR 400,000), the contracting authority is obliged to apply open or restricted procedure, or negotiated procedure with or without publication of notice, or competition for design of a conceptual solution or competitive dialogue;

The application of open or restricted procedure, or negotiated procedure with or without publication of notice, or design contest or competitive dialogue is obligatory when the value of the procurement for supplies and services amounts to or exceeds:

• BAM 250,000 (approx. EUR 125,000) for institutions at state, entity, or local level and associations; 

• BAM 400,000 (EUR 200,000) for legal persons; 

• BAM 800,000 (approx. EUR 400,000) for sectoral contracting entities, (i.e. entities performing activities in the area of water supply or energy or transport or postal services, and conducting a public procurement procedure for supplies, services, and/or works).  

A contracting authority is allowed to negotiate a direct agreement with a supplier only where the value of the procurement is BAM 6,000 (approx. EUR 3,000) or below.

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding? 

The procedures of public procurement include:

• open procedure (public invitation to bid, generally non-negotiable agreements);

• restrictive procedure (public invitation to bid, two phases, all interested entities can apply in the first phase, but only candidates who have been granted a qualification can be invited to submit a bid in the second phase, generally non-negotiable agreements);

• competitive dialogue (possible only in limited situations for public procuring entities, the criteria for awarding the contract is exclusively the best price-quality ratio);

• negotiated procedure with publication of a public invitation (available only to sectoral procuring entities); and

• negotiated procedure without publishing a public invitation (limited only to certain situations, usually used in emergency cases with prior contractors).

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

Yes, the amendments to the Law on Public Procurement are still awaiting parliamentary adoption.

The proposed amendments include the following:

• changes to the exemptions from the application of the provisions of the Law on Public Procurement;

• appointment of public procurement officers;

• introduction of the obligation of prior market verification;

• introduction of the obligation to divide the procurement into lots;

• in more detail, regulation of the institution of the procurement plan;

• definition of an interim procurement plan;

• the legal basis for conducting electronic procurement;

• description of the circumstances in which bidders may be excluded from public procurement procedures for 36 months;

• introduction of changes in the determination of conflicts of interest related to the contracting authority, a member of the public procurement commission, and other persons involved in the public procurement procedure; and

• introduction of changes in the implementation of competitive application procedures and direct agreements etc.

Key procurement resources

• Law on Public Procurement

• Law on energy efficiency of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Law on energy efficiency of Republic of Srpska

• Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources and Efficient Cogeneration of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and amendments (available also in English at the following link);

• Law on Renewable Energy of Republic of Srpska;

Country Contact

Vassil Hadjov
Partner, Spasov and Bratanov Lawyers' Partnership

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of 'green' contracting opportunities?

Government tenders are advised on the web‑site of the Bulgarian Public Procurements Agency, available here.

The Reporting Bulletin is available here.

The search engine is available here.

Further public procurement opportunities may be found on the web‑sites of various Bulgarian ministries and agencies. As an example some "green" opportunities may be found on the web site of the Ministry of Environment and Water here.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

Bidders in public procurement tenders may be individuals and entities established in Bulgaria or another State. There are no requirements for establishing an SPV in Bulgaria. However, establishing an SPV is market practice because it is easier to communicate with State and municipal authorities through an SPV. 

Is there any requirement for 'local content'?

There are no specific requirements for 'local content'. That said, there may be specific terms and conditions under specific public procurement tenders which would need to be assessed on a case‑by‑case basis.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

The applicable procurement legislation is set out in the Public Procurements Act and is available (in Bulgarian) here.

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

The Republic of Bulgaria has been a member of WTO since 1 December 1996.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

The Constitution provides that to the extent an international trade agreement has been ratified by Parliament, published in the State Gazette and entered into force, then it pre‑empts domestic Bulgarian legislation.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

All entities, engaged in public procurement procedures, would need to comply with public procurement law.

Which types of contracts are covered?

The types of contracts are described in the Public Procurements Act and cannot be exhaustively listed. As an example construction procurements with a value of less than BGN 50,000 (approx. Euro 26,000) can be awarded directly. Generally, the thresholds for direct procurement which avoid competitive procedures are quite low.

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

Single sourcing and direct award are allowed by the law but are subject to a number of conditions. Generally, the materiality threshold is the main criterion.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

Currently, there are no pending amendments to the public procurement legislation.

Key procurement resources

The Public Procurement Portal is the main source of information, available here.

Country Contacts

Ivan S. Maleš
Counsel, DLA Piper

Anže Molan
Junior Associate, DLA Piper

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities?

In Croatia, there are several types of rules that govern public procurement, namely:

• public procurement legislation (in particular, the Croatian Public Procurement Act (Zakon o javnoj nabavi), hereinafter referred to as the Public Procurement Act),

• concessions-related rules (in particular, the Croatian Concessions Act (Zakon o koncesijama), hereinafter referred to as the Concessions Act), and

• public-private partnership regulation (in particular, the Croatian Public-Private Partnership Act (Zakon o javno-privatnom partnerstvu), hereinafter referred to as the PPP Act).

In principle, all tender procedures in the field of public procurement, concessions and public-private partnerships must be advertised.

Public procurement procedures are generally conducted through Electronic Public Procurement Classifieds of the Republic of Croatia (Elektronički oglasnik javne nabave Republike Hrvatske - EOJN RH, hereinafter referred to as the Platform). Please note that the Platform is a centralized electronic system which enables online access to all notifications and related procurement documents. The Platform may be accessed via this link.

The Platform is also used to publish notices on an intention to grant a concession.

Additionally, in cases where the relevant thresholds are met, tenders must also be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

In so far as "green" contracting opportunities are concerned, please note that in 2021, the Croatian Decision on Green Public Procurement in Central Public Procurement Procedures (Odluka o zelenoj javnoj nabavi u postupcima središnje javne nabave – hereinafter referred to as Green Public Procurement Decision) has been adopted. In accordance therewith, information regarding green public procurement criteria and/or criteria for the selection of tenders must be published on this website. Nonetheless, "green" contracting opportunities are still published on the Platform.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

Generally, economic entities may bid and execute a contract with a procuring entity regardless of whether they are established (in the sense of having local presence in the form of a subsidiary or a branch office) in Croatia (at least as far as bidders established in EU Member States are concerned).

Specifically – as regards the public procurement procedures – the Public Procurement Act states that an economic entity that has the right to provide appropriate services according to the law of the EU Member State in which it has its place of business may not be rejected from a public procurement procedure if, according to Croatian law, it would have to be either a natural person or a legal entity to participate.

Please note, however, that contracting authorities in Croatia may impose specific conditions which apply in respect of tender procedures that potential bidders would require to meet.  For example, special conditions in respect of geographic location and the like. Such conditions must be objective and proportionate in order to be legally valid.

On a related note, specific requirements may apply in the appeal procedure in the context of the public procurement procedure where bidders might be required to appoint a local agent.

Is there any requirement for ‘local content’?

In the context of public procurement procedures, criteria for choosing bidders in an individual public procurement procedure may relate to

• bidders' ability to carry on professional activities,

• their economic and financial standing, and

• their technical / professional capacities.

Furthermore, bidders may be excluded from the public procurement procedure in the following instances:

• a Croatian-based bidder / any member of its management or supervisory body / Croatian citizen has been convicted of participation in a criminal organization, corruption, fraud, terrorism or offences related to terrorist activities, money laundering or terrorist financing, child labour or other forms of human trafficking; and

• foreign or domestic bidders failed to comply with obligations related to payment of tax / pensions / health insurance contributions.

Regardless, a contracting authority may disregard the above exclusion grounds to the extent that this is necessary in the public interest (e.g. public health and environmental protection).

Additionally, a contracting authority may also exclude bidders from public procurement procedure if, for example:

• there was a breach of bidder’s obligation relating to the environmental, social and labour law (especially, not paying salaries to bidder’s employees);

• bidder is insolvent, over-indebted, is subject of insolvency or a similar procedure;

• bidder’s actions led to serious professional misconduct which may jeopardise the bidder’s integrity;

• the bidder has entered into an agreement with other economic entities aimed at distorting market competition;

• existence of conflicts of interest that cannot be mitigated by virtue of other measures;

• there is a risk of distortion of market competition that cannot be mitigated by implementing other measures;

• bidder’s unsatisfactory performance in previous public procurement procedures;

• bidder has misrepresented facts / data during the past public procurement procedures;

• bidder has attempted to influence a contracting authority in the process of awarding the public procurement.
• Please note that the above circumstances can be mitigated by way of several types of measures set forth in the statute (e.g. paying monetary remuneration, implementing technical and organisational safeguards).

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

Apart from the Public Procurement Act, the Concessions Act, and the PPP Act the following legal acts are of importance:

• Regulation on public procurement in the field of defence and security (Uredba o javnoj nabavi u području obrane i sigurnosti);

• Ordinance on procurement documentation and tenders in public procurement procedures (Pravilnik o dokumentaciji o nabavi te ponudi u postupcima javne nabave);

• Ordinance on training in the field of public procurement (Pravilnik o izobrazbi u području javne nabave);

• Ordinance on the Supervision of the Implementation of the Public Procurement Act (Pravilnik o nadzoru nad provedbom Zakona o javnoj nabavi);

• Ordinance on procurement plan, register of contracts, prior consultation and market analysis in public procurement (Pravilnik o planu nabave, registru ugovora, prethodnom savjetovanju i analizi tržišta u javnoj nabavi);

• Ordinance on the Register of Concessions (Pravilnik o Registra koncesija);

• Regulation on the implementation of public-private partnership projects (Uredba o provedbi projekata javno-privatnog partnerstva); and

• Ordinance on the organization and management of the Register of Public-Private Partnership Agreements (Pravilnik o ustroju i vođenju Registra ugovora o javno-privatnom partnerstvu).

The above legal acts can be accessed at this link (in Croatian language).

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

The Republic of Croatia is party to the GPA.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

Generally, if the procurement procedure in question is covered by the international trade agreement, it may be assumed that such procurement would be excluded from domestic (i.e. Croatian) procurement law.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

As per the Public Procurement Act, the following entities shall be generally considered contracting authorities and, therefore, subject to the public procurement regime under Croatian law:

• The Republic of Croatia and its state administration bodies (listed in Annex 1 to the Public Procurement Act);

• local and regional self-government entities;

• public law bodies; and

• entities that established the entities listed above.

Kindly note that the same entities as set forth in the Public Procurement Act are also subject of the PPP Act regime.

The Concessions Act, on the other hand, the concessions grantors are the following entities:

• the Croatian Parliament and the Government of the Republic of Croatia, on behalf of the Republic of Croatia;

• state administration body, on behalf of the Republic of Croatia;

• the competent authority of the local and regional self-government unit, on behalf of the local and regional self-government unit; and

• a legal entity authorized by special laws to grant a concession.

Which types of contracts are covered?

Generally, supply, service and construction contracts awarded by a contracting authority are subject to procurement regulation. In particular, the Public Procurement Act applies to the following types of contracts:

Purchase agreements pertaining to:

• procurement of goods and services as well as implementation of project tenders with an estimated value exceeding EUR 26,540.00;

• procurement of works with an estimated value exceeding EUR 66,360.00.

Purchase agreements entered into by Croatian diplomatic missions and consular offices pertaining to:

• procurement of goods and services as well as implementation of project tenders with an estimated value exceeding EUR 126,080.00;

• procurement of works with an estimated value exceeding EUR 530.880,00.

In addition to the thresholds laid down in the national legislation (additional thresholds stipulated by the EU acts may apply.

As far as concessions are concerned, the Concessions Act stipulates that the threshold for determining the application of the rules of the concession procedure is published in the Official Journal of the European Union. To this end, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1951 of 10 November 2021 sets out the relevant threshold which currently amounts to EUR 5.382.000.

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

Apart from procedures that do not reach the relevant thresholds, the Public Procurement Act also stipulates that the contracting authorities are not obliged to apply the Public Procurement Act in case of procurement of goods, works or services for the purpose of remediating the consequences of natural disasters, major accidents, and disasters, provided that such option is foreseen in special legislation.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

Currently, there are no noteworthy proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation.

Key procurement resources

See above.

Country Contacts

Eleni Neoptolemou
Partner, Harris Kyriakides

Michael Kyriakides
Partner, Harris Kyriakides

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of 'green' contracting opportunities?

Government tenders are mainly advertised on e-procurement.

Sometimes, contracting authorities might advertise also on their own websites or in the media.

There are no different platforms for announcements of "green" contracting opportunities.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

Contracting authorities usually request that bidders are natural or legal persons (governed by public or private law) or consortia of natural and/or legal persons lawfully established in Cyprus or in any other Member State of the European Union (EU) or of the European Economic Area (EEA) or in third countries which have signed and ratified the International Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) or have signed and ratified association agreements or bilateral agreement with the EU or with the Republic of Cyprus in the sector of Public Procurement.

Is there any requirement for 'local content'?

Usually not. There might be a requirement for the tenderer to participate in physical meetings or provide the services from the contracting authorities’ establishments.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

The main legislation on public procurement is the law 73(I)/2016.

There are also the following legislations:

• For public procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors, law 140(I)/2016

• For the award of concession contracts, law 11(I)/2017

• For public tenders by contracting authorities or entities in the fields of defence and security, law 173/2011

• Law 104(I)/2010 regulating the procedures before the Tender Review Authority

• CAP 59, regarding the protection of the beach, it includes provision regarding the tenders for use of the beach for watersports etc:

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

Yes, Cyprus has ratified the GPA. Cyprus has not signed any bilateral agreement yet.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

It is obligatory for the Contracting Authorities to accept tenders from these countries.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

The State, regional or local authorities, bodies governed by public law or associations formed by one or more such authorities or one or more such bodies governed by public law.

Which types of contracts are covered?

• Public works contracts;

• Public supply contracts; and

• Public service contracts.

The following thresholds apply:

For Law 73(I)/2016:

For Law 140(I)/2016:

For Law 11(I)/2017:

For Law 173(I)/2011:

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

Apart from the procedures of open and restrictive tenders, there are also the following procedures:

• Competitive procedure with negotiation;

• Competitive dialogue

• Innovation partnership

• Use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication

• The procedure for contracts under the threshold (summary procedure).

The Contracting Authority might be able to justify not advertising a tender procedure or even direct award depending on the following conditions:

• The amount is below the threshold, according to clauses 87-90 of Law 73(I)/2016;

• Following an open tender procedure where no tenders participated (or suitable tenders);

• The works/supplies/services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for any of the following:

• the aim of the procurement is the creation or acquisition of a unique work of art or artistic performance; competition is absent for technical reasons;

• the protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights;

• If it is strictly necessary and for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority to comply with the time limits for a procedure (open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation).

Furthermore, in case of public supply contracts, the negotiated procedure without publication might be used:

• where the products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experimentation, study or development; however, contracts awarded pursuant to this point shall not include quantity production to establish commercial viability or to recover research and development costs;

• for additional deliveries by the original supplier which are intended either as a partial replacement of supplies or installations or as the extension of existing supplies or installations where a change of supplier would oblige the contracting authority to acquire supplies having different technical characteristics which would result in incompatibility or disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and maintenance; the duration of such contracts as well as that of recurrent contracts shall not, as a general rule, exceed three years;

• for supplies quoted and purchased on a commodity market;

• for the purchase of supplies or services on particularly advantageous terms, from either a supplier which is definitively winding up its business activities, or the liquidator in an insolvency procedure, an arrangement with creditors, or a similar procedure under national laws or regulations.

The negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used for public service contracts, where the contract concerned follows a design contest and is to be awarded, under the rules provided for in the design contest, to the winner or one of the winners of the design contest; in the latter case, all winners must be invited to participate in the negotiations.

The negotiated procedure without prior publication may be used for new works or services consisting in the repetition of similar works or services entrusted to the economic operator to which the same contracting authorities awarded an original contract, provided that such works or services are in conformity with a basic project for which the original contract was awarded. The basic project shall indicate the extent of possible additional works or services and the conditions under which they will be awarded.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

There is an amendment pending for Cap 59 regarding the tender procedure for licences for watersports at the beach.

Key procurement resources

• Public Procurement Directorate

• Platform created by Cyprus Bar Association including all case law and legislation

• Tender Review Authority (includes all relevant decisions of the Authority)

Country Contact

Miroslav Dubovský
Country Managing Partner, DLA Piper 

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities?

Government tenders are advertised on the buyer profiles of the contracting authorities and in the Public Procurement Bulletin (in Czech: Věstník veřejných zakázek).

Furthermore, the Czech Ministry of Regional Development operates a platform rozza facilitating access to public procurement for bidders.

There are no different sources for government announcements of “green” contracting opportunities.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

No, there is no such requirement in the Czech Republic.

Is there any requirement for ‘local content’?

No, there is no such requirement in the Czech Republic.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

• Act No. 134/2016 Coll., on public procurement, as amended (Public Procurement Act): zákon o zadávání veřejných zakázek;

• Decree No. 168/2016 Coll., on the publication of forms for the purposes of the Public Procurement Act and the requisites of the contracting authority’s profile: vyhláška č. 168/2016 Sb.;

• Decree No. 169/2016 Coll., on determining the scope of public works contract documentation and inventory of works, supplies and services with a statement of dimensions, as amended: vyhláška č. 169/2016 Sb.;

• Decree No. 170/2016 Coll., on determination of the lump sum amount of the costs of proceedings for the review of acts of the contracting authority in public procurement: vyhláška č. 170/2016 Sb.;

• Government Regulation No. 172/2016 Coll., on setting financial limits and amounts for the purposes of the Act on public procurement, as amended: nařízení vlády č. 172/2016 Sb.;

• Government Regulation No. 173/2016 Coll., on determining binding procurement conditions for public procurement for the acquisition of road vehicles: nařízení vlády č. 173/2016 Sb.;

• Decree No. 248/2016 Coll., on the requirements for the content of the request for a prior opinion on the conclusion of a contract and on the modification of a contract commitment pursuant to the Public Procurement Act: vyhláška č. 248/2016 Sb.; and

• Decree No. 260/2016 Coll., on establishing more detailed conditions concerning electronic instruments, electronic acts in public procurement and certificate of compliance: vyhláška č. 260/2016 Sb.

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

The Czech Republic, as an EU member state, is bound by the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement and bilateral free trade agreements which have been concluded by the EU.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

International trade agreements ratified by the EU constitute part of EU law and, thus, prevail over Czech law.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

• Czech Republic (please note that organisational units of the state are considered to be independent contracting authorities);

• Czech National Bank;

• a state contributory organisation;

• a territorial self-governing unit or its contributory organisation;

• any other legal entity, if:

• it was established or set up to meet needs of public interest which are not of an industrial or commercial nature; and

• another public contracting authority predominantly finances it, may exercise decisive influence over it, or appoints or elects more than half of the members of its statutory or supervisory body.

• a person who in order to finance a procurement uses more than CZK 200,000,000 (i.e. approximately EUR 8,112,000), or more than 50% of the funds provided from:

• the budget of the public contracting authority;

• the budget of the EU or the public budget of a foreign state, except where the public contract is performed outside the EU.

• sectoral contracting authority - in the award of sectoral public contracts, including sectoral concessions, a person should be deemed to be a contracting authority (and, thus, as needing to comply with the procurement legislation), if:

• it carries out the relevant activity on the basis of a special or exclusive right; or

• the public contracting authority exercises a dominant influence, directly or indirectly, over this person.

Which types of contracts are covered?

The Public Procurement Act applies to public supply contracts, public works contracts and public service contracts.

According to the estimated amount of the price, public contracts are divided into:

• Below-threshold public contracts - public contracts which do not reach the threshold of an “above-threshold public contract” and exceed the threshold of a “small-scale public contract”);

• Small-scale public contracts - public contracts whose estimated value is equal to or less than:

• CZK 2,000,000 (i.e. approximately EUR 81,100) in case of public supply or services contract; or

• CZK 6,000,000 (i.e. approximately EUR 243,400) in case of public works contracts

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

Yes, Czech law provides for some exemptions to competitive bidding.

• For the sake of completeness, please note that small-scale public contracts are not subject to the statutory Public Procurement Act regime except for the fundamental principles of the procurement procedure which should always be observed (the principles of proportionality, transparency, non-discrimination and equal treatment).

• Exemptions relating to below-threshold public contracts are set out in Section 30 of the Public Procurement Act and include, inter alia:

• supply contracts or service contracts directly related to visits of constitutional officials and authorised representatives of other states to the Czech Republic;

• supply or service contracts related to humanitarian aid;

• situations where the subject matter of the contract concerns acquisition, maintenance or restoration of the Czech Republic’s property abroad;

• situations where the subject matter of the contract concerns acquisition of objects of cultural value; or

• situations where the subject matter of the contract concerns production, purchase or repair of military material for the armed forces of the Czech Republic.

• Above-threshold public contracts:

• above CZK 3,653,000 (i.e. approximately EUR 148,200) in case of public supply or services contracts where those are awarded by the Czech Republic, the Czech National Bank or a state contributory organisation; or CZK 5,610,000 (i.e. approximately EUR 227,500) where those are awarded by other contracting authorities;

• above CZK 140,448,000 (i.e. approximately EUR 5,697,000) for public works contracts;

• above CZK 19,572,000 (i.e. approximately EUR 794,000) for public service contracts for social and other specific services;

• above CZK 140,448,000 (i.e. approximately EUR 5,700,000) for services concessions.

• Examples of general exemptions are set out in Section 29 of the Public Procurement Act and include, inter alia, the following situations:

• where there is a threat to essential security interests of the Czech Republic;

• where the main purpose of the public contract is to enable the contracting authority to provide or operate a public communications network or to provide electronic communications services to the public;

• where classified information would be disclosed;

• where the public contract is awarded in accordance with the special rules set out by an international treaty or international organization;

• where the subject matter of the contract concerns the acquisition or lease of real property;

• where the public contract is awarded by a TV or radio broadcaster and concerns the programme content intended for broadcasting or distribution;

• involving arbitration, conciliation or any other similar activity;

• involving certain legal services specified by the Public Procurement Act;

• where the contract concerns specified investment services, loans, science or research; or

• where the subject matter of the public contract concerns production of or trade in military equipment and this is necessary to protect the essential security interests of the Czech Republic.

Furthermore, and as already mentioned above, small-scale public contracts are not subject to the statutory Public Procurement Act regime except for the fundamental principles of the procurement procedure.

Further exemptions can be found in Sections 63 to 67 of the Public Procurement Act which provide for the procedure without publication. This procedure can be applied, inter alia, in the case of failure of the previous open procedure, or in the case of a unique work of art, or as a result of an extreme urgency.

It is further to be noted that the exemptions relating to sectoral public contracts are set out in Sections 158 to 160 of the Public Procurement Act and include, inter alia, below-threshold public contracts or purchase of water, fuels or energy when carrying out relevant activities.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

Yes, there is a proposal to amend the Public Procurement Act.

Please note, the bill amending the Public Procurement Act is at the beginning of the legislative process (to follow-up on the current status of the bill, please kindly see: sněmovní tisk 249).

Key procurement resources

• Public Procurement Bulletin - Věstník veřejných zakázek; and

• Rozza - platform operated by the Czech Ministry of Regional Development.

Contact

Mikala Berg Dueholm
Partner, DLA Piper

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? [include links to relevant websites]  Are there any different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities?

Public procurements are advertised on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) - an online version of the 'Supplement to the Official Journal' of the EU, dedicated to European public procurement. 

Furthermore, Danish tenders are also advertised on www.udbud.dk. At www.udbud.dk, Danish public procurement notices are gathered in one place to make it easier for suppliers to locate public-sector contracts.

Procurements below the threshold value, but of cross-border interest is also to be published at www.udbud.dk according to local Danish regulation.

There are no different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities. These announcements can be found on the sources mentioned above.

Are they any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

There are no requirements for bidders in general for them to bid or execute a public contract.

However, it is common for contracting authorities to stipulate requirements in the tender process.

A contracting authority may stipulate requirements for the suitability of candidates or tenderers in relation to exercise of the professional activity, economic and financial standing or technical and professional ability.

The contracting authority must set the requirements for suitability as minimum requirements in the contract notice.

The contracting authority may only apply the minimum requirements for suitability which are relevant to ensure that candidates or tenderers are suitable to pursue the professional activity and that they have the economic, financial and professional standing to perform the contract referred to.

The minimum requirements may vary from tender to tender and will depend on the volume of the contract and the type of services.

Furthermore, a contracting authority may stipulate special conditions of the performance of a contract. The conditions must be related to the subject-matter of the contract and must be stated in the contract notice or the additional procurement documents.

Such conditions may include financial, innovation, environmental, social or employment considerations.

Is there any requirement for ‘local content’? [e.g. employment quotas relating to the local workforce]

No, the contracting authorities in Denmark are not able to stipulate requirements for local content in relation to public procurement procedures due to the principle of equal treatment.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation? 

EU Directives:

• DIRECTIVE 2014/24/EU on public procurement

• DIRECTIVE 2014/23/EU on the award of concession contracts

• DIRECTIVE 2014/25/EU on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors
  

• DIRECTIVE 2009/81/EC on the coordination of procedures for the award of certain works contracts, supply contracts and service contracts by contracting authorities or entities in the fields of defence and security
  

Danish legislation that implements the EU directives above:

• The Danish Procurement Act
  

• An unofficial translation of the Danish Procurement Act

• Executive Order no. 1624 15/12/2015 on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors
  

• Executive Order no. 1625 14/12/2015 on the award of concession contracts
  

• Executive Order no. 892 17/08/2011 on the coordination of procedures for the award of certain works contracts, supply contracts and service contracts by contracting authorities or entities in the fields of defence and security
  

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

Yes, Denmark has ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). All EU tenders must as a result comply with the GPA agreement.  

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

The GPA agreement states that economic actors from countries that are parties to the GPA agreement have the right to participate in tenders and to be treated in accordance with the provisions of the agreement in general if the value of the contract exceeds the thresholds of the GPA agreement.

The fact that a tender is covered by the GPA agreement does not mean that the contracting authority is obliged to follow other rules than the Public Procurement Act.

It simply means that the contracting authority must give economic operators from countries that have signed the GPA a treatment that is no less favorable than that given to economic operators from the EU.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

The procurement legislation only applies when the procurer can be considered a contracting entity according to the definition laid down in the Public Procurement Act.

The contracting authority is defined here as the state, regional and municipal authorities, bodies governed by public law and associations of one or more of these authorities or one or more of these bodies governed by public law.

The procurement legislation applies to all authorities in the public sector, regardless of whether they operate on central, regional or local level. Annex I to Annex 2 of the Public Procurement Act contains a list of Denmark's state authorities. The list is not exhaustive and should therefore only be read as a guide.

In addition, the procurement legislation applies to bodies controlled by the public sector, unless they are fully operational in the business area - the so-called public law bodies.

Bodies governed by public law are bodies:

• established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character,

• having legal personality, and

• financed, for the most part, by the State, regional or local authorities, or other bodies governed by public law; or subject to management supervision by those authorities or bodies; or having an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law.

Which types of contracts are covered? 

The Public Procurement Act applies to the conclusion of public contracts defined as contracts for pecuniary interest concluded in writing between one or more economic operators and one or more contracting authorities and having as their object the execution of works, the supply of products or the provision of services.

The Public Procurement Act implements the Public Procurement Directive, which regulates public procurement over a certain threshold. 

The thresholds are different depending on whether the contracting authority is part of the state or another public authority and whether the procurement is covered by the Procurement Directive or the Directive on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors, etc.

The thresholds for 2022 and 2023 can be found here

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

If the value of the contract is below the threshold values for EU tenders, the contracting authority may apply the more flexible rules of the Public Procurement Act when awarding the contract.

In this connection, it must be assessed whether the contract has a certain cross-border interest. The assessment is important as it determines how much flexibility the contracting authority has in organizing the procurement procedure.

The contract has a certain cross-border interest if the contracting authority considers that a foreign company may be interested in bidding for the contract.

If the contracting authority considers that there is a certain cross-border interest in a contract below the threshold values, the contract must be advertised, and the contracting authority must determine an award procedure in accordance with the principles of equal treatment and transparency.

If the contracting authority considers that a contract below the threshold value does not have a certain cross-border interest, the contracting authority must ensure that the purchase is carried out on market terms.

The Public Procurement Act prescribes three procedures to ensure that the purchase is made on market terms. The contracting authority may:

• carry out a screening of the market and invite one tender based on that screening,
• invite two or more tenders, or
• publish an advertisement on the website of the contracting authority or www.udbud.dk

The list is not exhaustive but is just examples of how a purchase is made on market terms. The contracting authority is free to choose the approach best suited to the specific purchase.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

The Minister of Trade and Industry has recently introduced a bill to amend The Public Procurement Act. Likely the bill will be passed late June 2022.

The bill establishes strengthened possibilities for exclusion of companies that do not comply with the procurement rules, and introduces a new ground for exclusion, which i.e., will apply to companies established in tax haven.

Furthermore, the exclusion periods in the Public Procurement Act are extended for voluntary and mandatory grounds for exclusion.

In addition, the bill introduces requirements for the use of persons in training in the implementation of relevant public contracts.

In addition, the bill introduces a legal basis for laying down more detailed rules on a "buy-green-or-explain principle", with the aim of supporting the public sector's contribution to the green transition, and that contracting authorities consider the many possibilities of the tender rules to include considerations other than the purely economic ones.

Furthermore, the bill makes several more technical adjustments, including the purpose of reducing transaction costs, as well as introducing the legal basis for establishing a common tendering system.

Key procurement resources

Please see above.

Country Contact

Tuija Kaijalainen
Partner, DLA Piper

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities?

National notices

Public sector buyers must publish a national contract notice in Hilma. Buyers may also publish contract notices for procurement below the national thresholds in Hilma.

EU - wide notices

For procurement above EU thresholds, buyers are required to publish a notice in Hilma, which forwards the notice to Tenders Electronic Daily (‘TED’), maintained by the EU Commission's Publications Office. A notice requiring EU-wide notification does not appear in Hilma until it is first published on TED or after 48 hours of receipt of the notification by TED. Hilma will send a notice for publication to TED immediately upon publication by the buyer.

Even if the value of the procurement is below the EU thresholds, buyers may also publish the notice at EU level.

There are no different sources for “green” contracting opportunities.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

As a rule, there is no requirement for bidders to be established in Finland in order to bid or to execute a contract with the procuring entity. There are, however, exceptions to this rule such as defence procurements. Further, as regards consortia as tenderers, the contracting authority may require the consortium to adopt a certain legal form (SPV) during the contract period if necessary for the proper execution of the contract.

Is there any requirement for ‘local content’?

There are no general requirements for local content such as employment quotas relating to the local workforce.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

The Act on Public Contracts and Concessions (1397/2016, as amended, the Public Procurement Act), implementing the Public Contracts Directive (2014/24/EC) and the Directive on the award of concession contracts (2014/23/EC). The Act is available here in Finnish and Swedish and an unofficial translation in English is available here (although note the translation does not include several amendments made since 2016).

The Act on Public Contracts and Concessions by Contracting Authorities in Water, Energy, Transport and Postal Services Sectors (1398/2016, as amended, the Public Procurement Act for Special Sectors), implementing the Public Contracts Directive in Special Sectors (2014/25/EC), and the directive on the award of concession contracts (2014/23/EC), applies to procurement in the fields of water, energy, transport and postal services. The Act is available in Finnish and Swedish here.

The Act on Public Contracts in the Fields of Defence and Security (1531/2011, as amended, the Public Procurement Act for the Defence Sector), implementing the Defence and Security Procurement Directive (2009/81/EC), applies to procurements in the fields of defence and security. The Act is available in Finnish and Swedish here.

The Act on Services for Transportation (320/2017), will be applied in services concessions concerning public road transportation (buses) and public transportation by rail (other than trams) and in any procurement concerning railway transport including service concessions. The Act is available in Finnish and Swedish here and an unofficial translation in English is available here (although it does not include several amendments made after 731/2018).

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

Yes, Finland has ratified the GPA.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

The GPA as well as several bilateral trade agreements concluded by the EU opens the EU and therefore also Finnish public procurement market to companies from countries which are parties to these agreements.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

The procurement legislation defines the authorities and entities that constitute contracting authorities and the definition may differ depending on which of the Procurement Acts applies. Contracting authorities generally comprise state authorities and municipalities. Under the Public Procurement Act institutions of public law character also need to comply with the Act. The institutions of public law mean legal persons expressly established to satisfy public interest needs that are not of an industrial or commercial nature and: 1) that are mainly financed by a contracting authority as defined in the Act; 2) that are managed under the regulatory control of a contracting authority; or 3) of whose administrative, managerial or regulatory organs a contracting authority appoints more than half of the members. There is also detailed case law on this issue.

Which types of contracts are covered?

As a rule, all contracts concerning procurement of goods or services by contracting authorities are subject to procurement legislation, provided that the monetary value of such contract exceeds certain threshold (there are both national and EU thresholds). The values are specified in the relevant Acts.

The national threshold values in the Public Procurement Act are the following (as applicable in August 2022):

• €60,000 for goods and services contracts and design contests;

• €500,000 for service concessions;

• €400,000 for healthcare and social services contracts;

• €300,000 for certain services;

• €150,000 for building contracts.

Under the Public Procurement Act for the Defence Sector, the national threshold values are the following (as applicable in August 2022):

• €100,000 for goods and services; and

• €500,000 for building contracts.

The Public Procurement Act for Special Sectors does not include lower national thresholds and, therefore, procurement rules do not apply to procurements below EU thresholds.

There are some exceptions regarding this rule, e.g. procurement of real estate is not covered by the public procurement legislation.

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

Direct sourcing is permissible under certain, relatively strict conditions which are based on Article 32 in the EU directive 2014/24/EC. Direct sourcing is permissible e.g. when only a certain supplier can implement the procurement for a technical reason, or for a reason related to protecting an exclusive right.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

There is currently a draft Government proposal dated 16 March 2022 regarding possible amendment to the Public Procurement Act and to the Public Procurement Act for Special Sectors. The aim of this proposal is to improve the quality of public procurements by emphasizing environmental aspects in making public procurements. The consultation period on the draft ended on 29 April 2022. In the draft the laws are intended to come into force on 1 January 2023.

Key procurement resources

See above.

Further, information on planned procurement before issuing a contract notice may be found on the webpages of each contracting authority, but mainly in Finnish only. e.g. the webpages of the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency.

Country Contact

Jérôme Pentecoste
Partner, DLA Piper 

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities?

This website, the Official Bulletin of Public Procurement Announcements, publishes national and European public tender notices (AAPC), concession notices, award notices but also public-private partnership contracts and other notices issued by the State, the army, local authorities and their public institutions.

This website includes all announcements without distinction.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

European case law has established the principle of non-discrimination, particularly on the basis of nationality (ECJ 7 December 2000 Telaustria C-324/98: respect for "the fundamental rules of the Treaty in general and the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality in particular").

This is a fundamental rule of the Treaty which implies an obligation of transparency and the implementation of adequate advertising and competitive tendering measures applicable to public contracts even if, because of their value, they do not fall within the scope of the Directives (ECJ, 3 Dec. 2001, Bent Mousten Vestergaard, C-59/00). 

Constitutional and administrative case law has enshrined the principle of freedom of access to public procurement in public contracts.

The Conseil d'Etat censures all forms of discrimination in public contracts (CE opinion, 8 November 2000, Jean-Louis Bernard Consultants, No. 222208: 'No text, nor any principle, prohibits, by reason of its nature, a public person from applying for the award of a public contract or a public service delegation').

Thus, competition must be equal as follows:

• Equal, in that all companies must have access to public procurement;

• Equal, again, in that during the competitive tendering procedure, no discrimination may be made by the public entity".

From now on, these principles are included in Article L. 3 of the Public Procurement Code, according to which: "Purchasers and conceding authorities shall respect the principle of equal treatment of candidates for the award of a public procurement contract. They shall implement the principles of freedom of access and transparency of procedures, under the conditions defined in this code".

In concrete terms, and with regard to the nationality of economic operators, this principle is implemented by Article L.2153-1 of the Public Procurement Code, which states that "The public authority shall guarantee to economic operators and to works, supplies and services from States party to the Agreement on Government Procurement concluded within the framework of the World Trade Organization or to another equivalent international agreement to which the European Union is a party, within the limits of these agreements, treatment equivalent to that guaranteed to economic operators, works, supplies and services from the European Union.

In other cases, purchasers may introduce into the consultation documents criteria or restrictions based on the origin of all or part of the works, supplies or services making up the tenders proposed or the nationality of the operators authorized to submit a tender. The procedures for the application of this paragraph shall be specified by regulation.

For the application of this Book, the States parties to the European Economic Area which are not members of the European Union shall be treated as Member States of the European Union."

Is there any requirement for ‘local content’?

At the European level, several principles prevent clauses from favouring "local content".

Firstly, the freedom to provide services organised by Articles 56 and 57 TFEU implies the "freedom of recipients of services to travel to another Member State in order to receive a service there, without being hindered by restrictions, and tourists should be regarded as recipients of services [. ...] services which a provider established in one Member State provides, without travelling, to a recipient established in another Member State constitute a cross-border provision of services within the meaning of Article 56 TFEU" (CJEU, 3 Dec. 2020, Case C-311/19, Bonver Win).

The main principles of public procurement set out in the ECJ's judgment of 7 December 2000 in Telaustria C-324/98 of equal treatment, non-discrimination and transparency are also opposed to favouring "local content".

It is settled case law that a criterion based on geographical location cannot be used (ECJ 27 October 2005 Commission v Spain C-158/03). Similarly, the widest possible use of materials, consumer goods, labour and equipment of a certain national origin cannot be provided for (ECJ 22 June 1993 Commission v. Kingdom of Denmark C-243/89).

In French law, these principles have been taken up in Article L. 3 of the Public Procurement Code and are opposed in the same terms (CE 29 July 1994 Commune de Ventenac en Minervois n° 131562).

Article L. 2112-2 of the Public Procurement Code nevertheless provides that the clauses of the contract specify the conditions of performance of the services, which must be linked to its purpose.

The conditions of performance may take into account considerations relating to the economy, innovation, the environment, the social field, employment or the fight against discrimination.

Thus, it would be possible to include a clause giving preference to “local content” in compliance with these conditions.

In addition, a preference clause for local content may be inserted under the conditions of Article L.2153-1 of the Public Procurement Code as set out in the response to the question above for operators or works, supplies and services from States not party to the Agreement on Government Procurement concluded within the framework of the World Trade Organization or to another equivalent international agreement to which the European Union is party.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

The texts governing public procurement law are partly derived from EU law: Directive No. 2014/23/EU on concessions, No. 2014/24/EU on public procurement and No. 2014/25/EU on network activities.

All the regulations are codified in the Public Procurement Code (Order No. 2018-1074 of 26 November 2018 and Decree No. 2018-1075 of 3 December 2018).

The code came into force on 1 April 2019.

There are also the Cahiers des Clauses Administratives Générales (CCAG).

These collections of standard clauses are not mandatory but are a useful reference for buyers. There are now 6 CCAGs: CCAG Current Supplies and Services (FCS), CCAG Works, CCAG Intellectual Performance (IP), CCAG Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), CCAG Industrial Contracts and the latest, CCAG Project Management.

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

France ratified the GPA through the European Union on 1 January 1996.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

In France, the Marrakech Agreement was published in Decree n°. 95-1242 of 24 November 1995.

The decree requires that the public tender notices indicate whether or not the contract is covered by the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement. On this point case law is now constant (CE, 27 July 2001, n°. 229566, CGE; TA Cergy-Pontoise, 2 Feb. 2001, n°. 0100073, Sté Polyurbaine).

The judge of cassation exercises his control of the legal qualification of the facts on the notion of service concerned by the Agreement on Government Procurement (CE, 10 March 2004, n° 259680, Société Plastic Omnium Systèmes Urbains c/ Communauté d'agglomération de Limoges Métropole).

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

Book II of the first legislative part of the Public Procurement Code defines the actors in public procurement who are subject to the provisions of the Code.

These are contracting authorities and contracting entities.

Contracting authorities, in accordance with Article L.1211-1 of the Public Procurement Code, cover three categories of persons:

• all legal persons governed by public law;

• legal persons governed by private law who meet certain conditions; and

• legal persons governed by private law formed by contracting authorities for the purpose of carrying out certain activities in common.

Contracting entities in accordance with Article L.1212-1 of the same code are:

• contracting authorities carrying out one of the activities of a network operator;

• public undertakings carrying out one of the same activities as a network operator when they are not contracting authorities; and

• bodies governed by private law which are neither contracting authorities nor public undertakings when they benefit from special or exclusive rights the effect of which is to reserve for them the exercise of one of the activities of network operator and substantially affect the ability of other economic operators to carry out that activity.

Which types of contracts are covered?

Public procurement contracts are divided into two categories: public contracts, defined in Article L.1110-1 and concession contracts defined in Article L.1120-1 of the Public Procurement Code.

In addition to the provisions of Part 1 of the Code relating to definitions and scope, the provisions governing public contracts are set out in Part 2 of the Code and those governing concession contracts are set out in Part 3 of the Code.

Not all public contracts concluded by public purchasers are necessarily public contracts or concession contracts.

The award of a public contract is subject to procedural rules. The public purchaser must follow a procedure determined according to the value of the purchase and its purpose (works, supplies, services).

From 1 January 2022, the thresholds for the formalized procedure increased from:

• EUR 139,000 excluding tax to EUR 140,000 excluding tax for supply and service contracts of central public authorities;

• EUR 214,000 excluding tax to EUR 215,000 excluding tax for supply and service contracts of other contracting authorities and for public supply contracts of central public authorities operating in the field of defense;

• EUR 428,000 excluding tax to EUR 431,000 excluding tax for supply and service contracts of contracting entities and for supply and service contracts awarded in the field of defense or security;

• EUR 5,350,000 excluding tax to EUR 5,382,000 excluding tax for works contracts and for concession contracts..

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

Article L. 2122-1 of the Public Procurement Code provides that: "The purchaser may award a contract without prior advertising or competitive tendering in the cases laid down by decree in the Council of State when, in particular because of the existence of an unsuccessful first procedure, a particular urgency, its subject matter or its estimated value, compliance with such a procedure is unnecessary, impossible or manifestly contrary to the interests of the purchaser".

The public authority must be able to justify that the conditions for recourse to a contract without advertising or competitive tendering, which must be interpreted strictly (ECJ 14 September 2004 Commission v Italian Republic, C-385/02) are fulfilled (ECJ 27 October 2011 Commission v Hellenic Republic, C-601/10). If not, the contract is vitiated by a nullity that the judge is obliged to raise ex officio (CE 28 July 2000 Jacquier n° 202792).

Although purchasers who use contracts without prior advertising or competitive tendering are not subject to all the procedural rules set out in the Public Procurement Code, they must nevertheless comply with the main principles of public ordering set out in Article L.3 of the Public Procurement Code, as well as with the rules specific to them.

Thus, purchasers and granting authorities must respect the principle of equal treatment of candidates for the award of a public procurement contract. They shall implement the principles of freedom of access and transparency of procedures, under the conditions defined in this code.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

To our knowledge, no major project to modify the public procurement code is currently being discussed in parliament.

Key procurement resources

Public procurement law is detailed by the public procurement office of the Ministry of Economy and Finance

Country contacts

Dr. Frank Roth
Partner, DLA Piper 

Dr. Charlotte Landwehr
Senior Associate, DLA Piper

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities?

EU-wide tenders must be advertised on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily).

In addition, there is a variety of national databases advertising government tenders. The most common are:

• Vergabe24

• Deutsches Ausschreibungsblatt 

• Bund

• Evergabe-Online 

There is no specific database focusing on “green” contracting opportunities. 

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity? 

There are no requirements for the bidding process. Bidders may not be rejected solely because they are not a natural or legal person under German law as long as they are entitled to establishment under their jurisdiction.

Pursuant to Sec. 43 para. 3 of the Procurement Regulation (VgV), the contracting authority may not require groups of companies to have a specific legal form in order to submit a request to participate or to submit a tender. The contracting authority may only require a bidding consortium to adopt a specific legal form after the contract has been awarded if a specific legal form is required for the proper performance of the contract.

Is there any requirement for ‘local content’? 

Not applicable.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation? 

For procurement procedures above the threshold the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB) applies together with various Procurement Regulations which are based on the EU Directives. The general principles of procurement are regulated in Part 4 of the GWB and are specified by the Procurement Regulation (VgV), Sector Regulation (SektVO), Concession Award Regulation (KonzVgV), the Defence and Security Procurement Regulation (VSVgV) and part A of the contracting rules for the award of public works contracts (VOB/A). 

Procurement procedures below the threshold values are governed by the Regulation on sub-threshold procurement (UVgO).

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

Germany has not ratified the GPA itself but is indirectly bound as an EU member state.

In addition, the EU has ratified several other trade agreements which contain procurement regulations, see report from the Commission.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

Germany is indirectly bound by the GPA as an EU member state. In particular, the thresholds of the EU public procurement directives are based on the GPA.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

Public contracting authorities must comply with public procurement law. These primarily include municipal, regional and federal level authorities, entities under public law and entities under private law, insofar as they perform non-commercial tasks in the general interest and are predominantly controlled by the public sector (Sec. 99 GWB).

Entities under private law that carry out a sector activity (Sec. 100, 102 GWB) and those that award concessions (Sec. 101 GWB) also count as contracting authorities.

Which types of contracts are covered? 

The GWB applies to the award of public contracts for services, supplies and works with an estimated contract value that reaches or exceeds the thresholds, Sec. 106 para. 1 GWB. 

The thresholds change and are published in the Official Journal of the Commission every 2 years, Sec. 106 para. 3 of the GWB.

This following thresholds are applicable from 1 January 2022 (net):

• Construction contracts: EUR 5,382,000 

• Works and services concessions: EUR 5,382,000 

• Supply and service contracts: EUR 215,000 

• Supply and service contracts for supreme and higher federal authorities and comparable institutions: EUR 140,000

• Supply and service contracts (sectoral area / defence and security area): EUR 431,000 

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding? 

There are various levels of exemptions applying to the GWB in general, to the type of procurement or to specific award situations.

On a general level the GWB provides for exemptions from EU-type procurement inter alia for

• arbitration and conciliation services;

• the acquisition, rental or leasing, by whatever financial means, of land, existing buildings or other immovable property or rights thereon;

• employment contracts;

• certain legal services and services that must be provided by notaries;

• certain research and development services; and

• certain public contracts with defence or security aspects or requiring secrecy.

Sec. 14 para. 4 VgV prescribes cases in which a direct award is possible without conducting a competition. These include in particular when

• the contract can be performed only by a specific undertaking, e.g. competition is absent for technical reasons or due to the protection of exclusive rights; and 

• when a competitive tender cannot be complied with due to reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority.

Further exceptions result from the group privilege, i.e. awards within a group of companies, including in-house awards (Sec. 108 GWB) or awards to an affiliated company (Sec. 139 GWB). In addition, there are sector-specific exceptions, i.e. for awards involving defence or security aspects (Sec. 117 GWB) or in the energy sector (Sec. 140 GWB).

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

The nationwide competition register, which has been in operation since March 2021, provides contracting authorities, sector contracting authorities and concession awarding authorities with information on whether a company is to be or may be excluded from a public procurement procedure due to economic crimes which have been committed.

As of 1 June 2022, public contracting authorities will be obliged to enquire, before awarding a contract, whether the bidder who is to be awarded the contract, is registered in the competition register, Sec. 12 Competition Register Act (WRegG).

Key procurement resources

In 2021, IT services and IT technology accounted for almost three quarters of total procurement volume. For the remainder, relevant procurement volumes were awarded in particular for aviation security, vehicles and their accessories, other official services, clothing and equipment (see award volume in Germany 2018-2021).

The large procurement agencies offer a wide range of information on public procurement, such as the BeschA (Ministry for Internal Affairs) and the BAAINBw (MoD).

Also, the Ministry for Economic Affairs provides material on public procurement.

The organization of municipalities (Deutscher Städte- und Gemeindetag, DStGB) also offers a well-furnished procurement portal.

As the result of a private sector initiative, the Forum Vergabe, the German Procurement Network (DVNW) and the IT industry association BITKOM also offer a multitude of procurement resources.

Country Contact

Orestis Omran
Partner, DLA Piper

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of 'green' contracting opportunities?

Government tenders are advertised on:

• HSPPA

• Ministry of Digital Governance

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

Candidates or tenderers and the members of associations may be natural or legal persons established in:

• a Member State of the European Union;

• a Member State of the European Economic Area (EEA);

• third countries which have signed and ratified the GPA, in so far as the contract awarded is covered by Annexes 1, 2, 4 and 5 and the general notes relating to the Association Appendix I to the GPA; and

• third countries which do not fall under subparagraph (c) above, and which have concluded bilateral or multilateral agreements with the Union on public procurement procedures.

Is there any requirement for 'local content'?

A joint decision of the Ministers of Immigration and Asylum, Development and Investment, Foreign Affairs, Labor and Social Affairs, Shipping and Island Policy and Rural Development and Food, issued during the last quarter of each second year, determines the maximum number of posts for third country nationals, according to the Region and the specialty of employment.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

• Law 4412/2016: Public Procurement of Works, Procurement and Services.

• Law 4413/2016: Award and enforcement of concessions - Harmonization with Directive 2014/23 / EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concessions (ΕΕ L 94/1 / 28.3.2014) and other provisions.

• Law 4782/2021: The regulatory framework of public procurement, specific regulations of procurement in the fields of defence and security.

• Law 3389/2005: Public-Private Partnerships.

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

Greece is one of the Parties of the WTO GPA. The GPA was ratified in Greece by Law 2513/1997.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

The provisions of Article 25 of Law 4412/2016 ensure the respect of commitments of the EU arising from the GPA. The Greek procurement legislation does not impose any obstacles on financial entities from countries that are signatories to the GPA.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

Τhe State, local authorities, bodies governed by public law and associations of one or more of these authorities or one or more of these public bodies of law and public undertakings.

Which types of contracts are covered?

Thresholds (excl. VAT) [Article 5 of Law 4412/2016]:

• public works contracts: EUR 5,225,000;

• public procurement and service contracts: EUR 135,000;

• public service contracts related to social and other special services: EUR 750,000 euros.

Thresholds (excl. VAT) of public contracts concerning the formerly excluded sectors (indicatively gas and heat, electricity, water, transport services, ports) and airports, postal services, oil and gas extraction and exploration or extraction of coal and other solid fuels) [article 235 of Law 4412/2016], are the following:

• EUR 418 000 for supply and service contracts, as well as for design contests;

• EUR 5,225,000 for works contracts;

• EUR 1,000,000 euros for service contracts related to social and other special services.

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

Law 4412/2016 sets out the requirements for the direct award procedure. Direct awards are allowed when the estimated value of the contract is equal to or less than specific limits (Article 118). Article 118A of the said Law defines the direct awards through e-marketplace systems.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

The recently enacted Law 4782/2021 has introduced extensive amendments to the provisions of Law 4412/2016.

Key procurement resources

Key European and national resources can be found here.

Country Contacts

Peter Gyorfi-Toth
Partner, DLA Piper

Miklós Horváth
Counsel, DLA Piper

Gabor Simon
Counsel, DLA Piper

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities?

Domestic government tenders are advertised here.

European public procurements are advertised here.

Green contracting opportunities information can be found on this website.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

In line with the EU public procurement rules (fully harmonised in Hungary), there are generally no requirements for bidders to be established in Hungary in order to bid or execute a contract with a contracting authority. The eligibility criteria for participation, which can be defined by the contracting authority, may relate to:

• economic and financial standing; 

• technical and professional ability; and

• where deemed necessary to perform the contract, being registered in one of the professional or trade registers kept in the State of establishment, or having to possess a particular authorization or to be members of a particular organization or association in the State of establishment.  (Section 66 of the PPA).

Is there any requirement for ‘local content’?

The contracting authority may require economic operators to be enrolled in one of the professional or trade registers kept in the State of establishment, or be authorised by, or members of, a particular organization or association in the State of establishment in order to participate in a competition  (Section 65 paragraph 1 point c of the PPA)

In respect of economic operators not established in Hungary, a certificate (extract) according to the registers listed in Annex XI to Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council or other certificate or declaration must be submitted as proof of such enrolment. 

In respect of a public procurement procedure for the provision of services, a licence, authorisation or membership of an organisation or chamber of commerce in the country in which the economic operator is established is required . In respect of a successful tender, registration in the register of the competent national chamber for the subject of the service (no later than the conclusion of the contact) may be required. (Section 26 of Govt. Decree No. 321/2015. (X.30) on how to verify the suitability and grounds for exclusion in public procurement procedures and to define the technical specifications for public procurement)

Economic operators established in the European Union and goods of Community origin will be granted national treatment in public procurement procedures. National treatment of economic operators established outside the European Union and goods of non-Community origin will be granted in procurement procedures in harmony with the international commitments of Hungary and the European Union in the field of public procurement.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

The main pieces of the applicable Hungarian procurement legislation are (amongst others):

• Act CXLIII of 2015 on Public Procurement (PPA)

• Act XVI of 1991 on Concessions

• Government decree 307/2015. (X. 27.) on the specific procurement rules for public service contracts

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

Yes. Hungary ratified the GPA 1994 on 1 May 2004. Hungary also ratified the GPA 2012 (which replaced the GPA 1994) on 6 April 2014.

As a member of the EU, Member States were required to transpose the provisions of the new directives into their national legislation by the transposition deadlines specified in the directives. The Hungarian Public Procurement Act (PPA) and the Hungarian procurement legislation is harmonised with the relevant EU Directives and EU rules.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

The GPA establishes rules requiring that open, fair and transparent conditions of competition are to be ensured in government procurements. 

The PPA does not apply to special procedures for procurement provided for by international agreement or international convention, if it concerns the joint implementation or exploitation with a non-member State of a project under an international agreement or international convention entered into in accordance with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), provided that, upon entering into said international agreement or international convention, the European Commission shall be notified thereof. (Section 9, paragraph 1 point c of the PPA).

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

Pursuant to the PPA, "contracting authorities" are public bodies, public interest entities, and controlled entities.

According to Section 5 of the PPA, in general terms, the following entities are required comply with mandatory procurement legislation:

• a ministry;

• the central purchasing body delegated by the Government;

• the State, all budgetary authorities, public foundations, municipal governments, local and nationwide nationality self-governments, association of municipal governments and nationwide nationality self-governments, regional development associations of local authorities,and territorial development councils;

• legal persons over which a contracting authority can exercise a control similar to that which it exercises over its own departments (Paragraphs h)-i) of Subsection (1) of Section 9 of the PPA);

• bodies recognized as having the capacity to preform legal acts, established for the specific purpose of meeting the needs of general interest; and

• a body or person whose procurement is financed for the most part, directly by one or more of the contracting authorities where the estimated value is equal to or greater than the relevant EU (procurement) threshold, or subsidized directly by one or more of the same public agencies/controlled entities by more than 75% and the estimated value of which is below the EU threshold, but equal to a greater than the relevant national procurement threshold:

• where those contracts involve civil engineering activities;

• where those contracts involve building work for hospitals, facilities intended for sports, recreation and leisure, school and university buildings and buildings used for administrative purposes; or

• where those contracts involve services which are connected to the above mentioned two works.

In addition, pursuant to Section 6 of the PPA, a "contracting entity” also includes any organization if engaged in pursuing any of the following public service activities:

• production, transport and distribution of drinking water, or the supply of drinking water to such networks;

• production, transport or distribution of gas or heat, or electricity, or the supply of gas heat, or electricity to such networks;

• the provision or operation of networks providing a service to the public in the field of transport by railway, automated systems, tramway, trolley bus, bus or cable;

• the exploitation of a geographical area for the purpose of the provision of airport, maritime or inland port or other terminal facilities to carriers by air, sea or inland waterway and to carriers of passengers, extracting oil or gas, or exploring for, or extracting, coal or other solid fuels;

• postal services.

In addition, pursuant to Section 7 of the PPA, with regard to procurements carried out in connection with the performance of its public service activities, "contracting entity“ also includes any entity if either engaged in pursuing public service activities, or which was created for the purpose of pursuing such activities, provided that one or more "contracting entity" (as defined above) can exercise, directly or indirectly, dominant influence over it.

Which types of contracts are covered?

The PPA covers contracts relating to:

• the purchase of goods; 

• the purchase of services; 

• the purchase of works;

• construction projects; 

• construction concessions; and 

• service concessions; provided that the goods or services are provided for consideration, the value of which reaches the respective minimum thresholds defined by the PPA.

Financial threshold amounts for public contracts and concessions are defined as follows:

• the thresholds set out in European Union legislation ("EU thresholds"); and

• the values specified by the annual budget act ("national thresholds").

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

There are certain well defined exemptions where a contracting authority may call only one bidder to participate in the tender. Usually these are cases where the contract may be performed only by a particular person or organization, such as for artistic reasons, or for reasons connected with the protection of exclusive rights, or for certain technical reasons.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

A new piece of legislation entered into force on 15 March 2022. Government Decree no. 63/2022 (II.28) aims to reduce the number of single-bid public procurements. 

Some of the contracting authorities will be required to perform preliminary market consultations before launching open or restricted tenders (only if the value of the tender is above the EU thresholds).

Key procurement resources

• Procurement Authority 

• Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities

Country Contacts

Mikala Berg Dueholm
Partner, DLA Piper

Bergthor Bergsson
Legal Consultant, DLA Piper

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities?

All Icelandic government tenders are advertised on Útboðsvefur.is.

There are no different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities, as all government tenders are advertised on Utbodsvefur.

Please note that contract announcements on Ríkiskaup (Central Public Procurement) web are in Icelandic. Only some contract announcements that fall under the EEA regulations are in English.

All Icelandic EEA contract announcements are also published in English via SIMAP on the Tender Electronics daily web page.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

There are no such requirements for bidders in general.

However, it is common for contracting authorities to stipulate requirements in the tender process.

A contracting authority may stipulate requirements for the suitability of candidates or tenderers in relation to the exercise of professional activity, economic and financial standing or technical and professional ability.

The contracting authority must set the requirements for suitability as minimum requirements in the contract notice.

The contracting authority may only apply the minimum requirements for suitability to ensure that candidates or tenderers are suitable to pursue the professional activity and that they have the economic, financial and professional standing to perform the contract being tendered.

The minimum requirements may vary from tender to tender and will depend on the size of the contract and the type of services involved.

Furthermore, a contracting authority may stipulate special conditions for the performance of a contract. The conditions must be related to the subject-matter of the contract and must be stated in the contract notice or the additional procurement documents.

Such conditions may include financial, innovation, environmental, social or employment considerations.

Is there any requirement for ‘local content’?

Contracting authorities in Iceland are not able to stipulate requirements for local content in relation to public procurement procedures.  However, it is a requirement for all companies operating in Iceland which have operated for a period of at least 3 years and who have 25 employees or more to implement an Equal Pay System for the entity. This requirement applies irrespective of the origin of the company’s workers.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

EU Directives

• DIRECTIVE 2014/24/EU on public procurement
  
  
• DIRECTIVE 2014/23/EU on the award of concession contracts
  
  
• DIRECTIVE 2014/25/EU on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors
  
  
• DIRECTIVE 2009/81/EC on the coordination of procedures for the award of certain works contracts, supply contracts and service contracts by contracting authorities or entities in the fields of defence and security
  
  
• DIRECTIVE 2007/66/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 December 2007 amending Council Directives 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC with regard to improving the effectiveness of review procedures concerning the award of public contracts

Icelandic legislation

• Act no. 120/2016 on Public Procurement

• Unofficial translation of Act no. 120/2016 on Public Procurement (do note that the translation is no translation of the newest amended version of Act no. 120/2016)

• Public Finance Act no. 123/2015

• Unofficial translation of Act no. 123/2016 on Public Finance

• Act no. 70/2012 on Climate Matters, specifically section XI on public procurement of environmentally friendly and energy-efficient vehicles )

• Act no. 2/1993 on the EEA (Act is of relevance to Iceland’s participation in the EEA and thereby for its access to the internal market)

Icelandic orders

• Order no. 1210/2021 on a standard form for a European declaration of competence and standard forms for the publication of notices of public procurement above the EEA reference amounts

• Order no. 755/2019 on State Procurement Agreements

• Order no. 643/2018 on the preparation, conclusion and follow-up of contracts for construction, operation and specific projects

• Order no. 950/2017 on concession contracts for works or services over the reference amounts of the European Economic Area

• Order no. 340/2017 on procurement of parties in charge of water supply, energy supply, transport and postal services

• Order no. 1000/2016 on procurement covered by social services and other specific services according to the Public Procurement Act

• Order no. 955/2016 on requirements in public procurement for information to be included in advertisements and other announcements, data to verify economic and financial status and technical capacity and requirements for electronic receipt equipment and devices

• Order no. 845/2014 on the procurement of institutions in the field of defence and security.

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

Yes. Iceland has ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

The GPA agreement states that economic actors from countries that are parties to the GPA agreement have the right to participate in tenders and to be treated in accordance with the provisions of the agreement in general if the value of the contract exceeds the thresholds of the GPA agreement.

The fact that a tender is covered by the GPA agreement does not mean that the contracting authority is obliged to follow other rules than the Icelandic Public Procurement Act.

It simply means that the contracting authority must give economic operators from countries that have signed the GPA treatment that is no less favourable than that given to economic operators from Iceland.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

The procurement legislation only applies when the procurer can be considered a contracting authority or purchaser according to the definition laid down in the Icelandic Public Procurement Act.

The contracting authority is defined as the state, local authorities, their institutions and organisations and other public entities. The Act also applies to associations formed by one or more of such authorities.

An entity is considered public if it is governed by public law and if it has been established for the specific purpose of serving the needs of the public interest, provided it does not conduct operations that may be compared to the operations of private entities, such as in the fields of business or industry. Furthermore, at least one of the following should apply:

• It is operated mostly at the expense of the State or local authorities, their institutions or other public entities. The entity shall be considered operated mostly at the expense of the State or local authorities, their institutions or other public entities, if public funding exceeds 50% of annual operating costs.

• It is supervised by the State or local authorities, their institutions or other public entities.

• It is subject to a special board of directors, the majority of which is appointed by the State or local authorities, their institutions or other public entities..

Which types of contracts are covered?

The Public Procurement Act applies to contracts for pecuniary interest concluded in writing between one or more economic operators and one or more contracting authorities, having as their object the execution of works, the supply of products or the provision of services within the meaning of the Public Procurement Act.

Moreover, only procurement exceeding a particular threshold are subject to public tenders. Procurements that exceed the Icelandic threshold must be subject to invitation to tenders nationally.

Procurements that exceed the threshold amounts in the European Economic Area must be put up for tender throughout the Economic Area.

Lastly, the threshold amounts for public tenders differ between types of procurement.

Please find the relevant thresholds here.

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

The Public Procurement Act does allow for a so-called negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice.

Under the procedure, contracting authorities may award contracts without prior publication of a contract notice in the following cases, regardless of whether it is a work, supply, or service contract, if one of the following exceptions apply:

• When no tenders or no suitable tenders, no applications, or no valid applications have been submitted in response to an open procedure or a restricted procedure, provided that the initial conditions of contract are not substantially altered.

• When only one economic operator is being considered for artistic reasons, the aim of the procurement is the creation or acquisition of a unique work of art or artistic performance, competition is absent for technical reasons or for reasons connected with the protection of exclusive rights.

• When a procurement is strictly necessary for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by unforeseen events and the time limit for the open, restricted, or negotiated procedures cannot be complied with. The circumstances invoked to justify extreme urgency must not in any event be attributable to the contracting authority.

  In the case of supplies procurement, contracting authorities may award contracts by a negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice in the following cases:

• When the products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experimentation, study, or development. This provision does not extend to quantity production to establish commercial viability or to recover research and development costs.

• In the case of additional deliveries which are intended either as a partial replacement of normal supplies or installations or as the extension of existing supplies or installations where a change of supplier would oblige the contracting authority to acquire material having different technical characteristics which would result in incompatibility or disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and maintenance. The length of such contracts as well as that of recurrent contracts may not, as a general rule, exceed three years.

• When the supplies are quoted and purchased on a commodity market.

• For the purchase of supplies on particularly advantageous terms, either from a supplier which is definitively winding up its business activities or from the receivers or liquidators of a bankruptcy, or a supplier in moratorium, or in composition.

In the case of services procurement, contracting authorities may award contracts by negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice when the contract concerned follows a design contest and must, under applicable rules for, be awarded to the successful candidate or to one or more of the successful candidates. In the latter case, all successful candidates shall be invited to participate in the negotiations.

Moreover, In the case of services procurement, contracting authorities may award contracts by a negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice when new works or services consisting in the repetition of similar works or services are entrusted to the economic operator to whom the same contracting authorities awarded the initial contract, provided that such works or services are in conformity with the original project for which the initial contract was awarded. As soon as the first project is put up for tender, the possible use of this procedure shall be disclosed, and the total estimated cost of subsequent works or services shall be taken into consideration by the contracting authorities when they apply the provisions of Public Procurement Act’s section on threshold amounts. This procedure may be used only during the three years following the conclusion of the original contract.

It should be noted that all the exceptions listed above are interpreted very narrowly, as the principle under the Public Procurement Act is to advertise the planned procurement and provide an opportunity for competition. As such, this procedure is only permitted in very exceptional cases.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

No.

Key procurement resources

• Ríkiskaup (Central Public Procurement) in Iceland

Country Contacts

Darach Connolly
Legal Director, DLA Piper

Diarmaid Harnett
Associate, DLA Piper

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities?

The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) announced there is a new supplier to provide the national tendering service, eTenders, European Dynamics. This platform will commence in mid-2023. For now, Irish Government tender advertisements are located on www.etenders.gov.ie.

In addition, Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) is an EU wide eProcurement platform which represents an extension to the online version of the Official Journal of the European Union.  TED carries EU-wide tender advertisements and is available at the TED site here.

In Ireland, all public contracts for supplies and services with an estimated value of €25,000 (exclusive of VAT) and above are required to be advertised on the Irish Government’s eTenders website. For works and works-related services, the threshold for advertising on the eTenders website is €50,000 (exclusive of VAT).

Public sector buyers are also encouraged to advertise lower value opportunities on eTenders as part of the drive to facilitate small and medium sized enterprises’ (SMEs) access to government contracts.

Green Contracting

In 2019, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform published Circular 20/2019: Promoting the use of Environmental and Social Considerations in Public Procurement. The Circular instructs Irish Government Departments to consider including green criteria in public procurement processes where “clearly defined, quantifiable, verifiable, and measurable criteria have been developed by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), and are relevant to the specific procurement process, and the cost can be met within a Department’s existing budget, without impacting on service delivery…”

According to the European Commission, green public procurement (GPP) is the process whereby public and semi-public authorities meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities by choosing solutions that have a reduced impact on the environment throughout their life cycle. In September 2021, the Irish Environment Protection Agency (EPA) released detailed guidance for public sector bodies on GPP (available here). The EPA guidance supports a more specific objective of ensuring that by 2023, all procurement using public funds will need to include green criteria.  At present, the Irish Government is encouraging Departments to introduce green criteria across the public sector targeting priority products and services.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

No. Often, bidders may decide to incorporate an Irish SPV for tax, contracting and liability reasons.

Is there any requirement for ‘local content’?

Generally, the Irish procurement rules prohibit discrimination or facilitate bidder selection as a means to favour local suppliers.  In particular, the Irish Award of Public Authority Contracts rules (see below) forms the legal basis for the national rules governing public procurement and promotes an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime that delivers best value for money.

At the same, in December 2018, the Irish Government published a Note on Social Considerations which support measures that can be factored into procurement processes including employment and training opportunities for disadvantaged groups, disability access, promoting social inclusion, or the protection of the environment and combating climate change (available here).

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

• The European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016 (SI 284/2016) which implement Directive 2014/24/EU into Irish law; Link here

• The European Union (Award of Contracts by Utility Undertakings) Regulations 2016 (S.I. No. 286/2016) which implement Directive 2014/25/EU into Irish law; Link here

• The European Union (Award of Concession Contracts) Regulations 2017 (SI 326-2017) which implement EU Directive 2014/23/ EU into Irish law; Link here

• The European Union (Award of Contracts Relating to Defence and Security) Regulations 2012 (SI 62/2012) (as amended) which implement Directive 2009/81/EC into Irish law; Link here

• The European Union (Public Authorities' Contracts) (Review Procedures) Regulations 2010 (SI 130/2010): Link here

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

Yes. Ireland has been bound by the GPA since 1 January 1996.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

Under the GPA, many large public sector procurement opportunities within the Irish jurisdiction must be opened up to suppliers within the EU and certain other countries (the parties to the WTO GPA), and this procurement must be subject to open, fair and transparent conditions of competition.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

The relevant legislation applies to “contracting authorities” and “contracting entities” when awarding contracts for goods and services.

Contracting authorities comprise the Irish state, Irish Government Departments/Offices, regional and local authorities and bodies governed by public law in Ireland. In addition, the procurement rules apply to health authorities, commercial and non-commercial State bodies and private entities which are subsidised 50% or more by a public body.

A body governed by public law is defined as a body established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character; b) has a legal personality; and c) has any of the following characteristics: (i) is financed, for the most part, by the State, a regional or local authority, or by another body governed by public law; (ii) is subject to management supervision by an authority or body referred to in (i); or (iii) has an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, a regional or a local authority, or by another body governed by public law.

Contracting entities include contracting authorities and “public undertakings” which pursue activities in the utilities sector (i.e. gas, heat, electricity, water, transport, port, airport, postal services and fuel industries). A “public undertaking” is an undertaking over which a contracting authority may directly or indirectly exercise a dominant influence by virtue of ownership, financial participation or rules governing the undertaking.

The definition of contracting entities also includes bodies which pursue a “prescribed activity" and which have been granted special or exclusive rights by a competent authority of a Member State.

Which types of contracts are covered?

Below, we set out the financial thresholds that apply to contracting entities when entering into contracts for goods or services.

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

Generally, the open procedure is the most common procurement process used by Irish contracting authorities.  In limited situations, it is permissible for contracting authorities to use a competitive procedure with negotiation or a competitive dialogue procedure.  The Irish rules provide for limited situations in which it is permissible for a contracting authority to make a direct award.  For example, it is open to Irish contracting authority / entity to rely on a negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice to contract with one or more providers, if because of technical and artistic reasons or because of the protection of exclusive rights, the contracts may be undertaken by those suppliers only.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

No.

Key procurement resources

• Circular 20/2019: Promoting the use of Environmental and Social Considerations in Public Procurement

• Guidelines for the use of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) December 2019

Country Contacts

Giorgia Romitelli
Partner, DLA Piper

Francesco Ferrari
Partner, DLA Piper

Luigi Mula
Legal Director, DLA Piper

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of ‘green’ contracting opportunities?

As a general rule, Italian Public Administrations have a special section on their websites called 'Transparent Administration'. Within this section, it is possible to find tender adverts. For example, the Italian Government's web page, in the above-mentioned section, contains tender notices.

In respect of ‘green’ contracting opportunities, on the website of the Ministry of Ecological Transaction (Ministero della Transazione Ecologica) there is a section called ‘GPP’ (Green Public Procurement) as well as one called ‘Social Procurement"’ (Appalti Sociali), where the relevant legal framework and application guides in these contexts are given.

If these opportunities are tenders financed with PNRR resources, they can also be found at the Italia Domani web page (Italian Government website).

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

Article 45 of Legislative Decree No 50 of 18 April 2016 establishes which economic operators are allowed to participate in public tenders. Furthermore, competitors based in States other than Italy are allowed to participate pursuant to Article 49 of the same Legislative Decree 50/2016. Hence an economic operator may participate in public tenders in Italy through a branch (without legal personality), a subsidiary (with legal personality) or directly in application of the principle of equivalence pursuant to Article 49 of the Legislative Decree No. 50/2016.

Specifically, in relation to a bidder's establishment, a clause in a tender notice (a territoriality clause – clausola di territorialità) which requires bidders, as a requisite for admission to participation to the tender process, to have an operating office in the territory of the local authority is considered to be unlawful. However, a contracting authority, in exceptional and justified cases, may request, during the tender phase, a formal declaration of a bidder's commitment to promptly procure an operating office located within the territory of the contracting authority in the event that their bid is successful.

Is there any requirement for ‘local content’?

There are no requirements for ‘local content’. Please note, for completeness, the rules on the application of the so called social clause (‘clausola sociale’) which requires companies succeeding in tenders to re-hire all staff previously employed.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation

The main text is the Legislative Decree No. 50 of 18 April 2016 as amended (Public Contracts Code ). This Code governs the procurement and concession contracts of contracting authorities and contracting entities having as their object the acquisition of services, supplies, works and projects, as well as public design contests.

Please note that Presidential Decree No. 207 of 5 October 2010 provides for the Implementation and Enforcement Regulations of the Public Contracts Code in force prior to the adoption of the Public Contracts Code (e.g. Legislative Decree No. 163 of 12 April 2006 or Old Public Contracts Code).

In recent years, the regulation of public contracts has been changed and various regulatory interventions have been adopted, some of which have led to amendments of the Public Contracts Code, others introduce additional disciplines to the aforementioned Code (e.g, the discipline on the commissioning of strategic infrastructures).

Since 2020, there have been various regulatory interventions that have introduced exceptional and transitional disciplines to deal with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, there have been significant regulatory interventions concerning contracts financed with the resources of the PNRR (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza – e.g. National Recovery and Resilience Plan) and the high cost of materials and energy. These novelties include, but are not limited to, inter alia:

• Decree Law 32 of 2019

Urgent provisions for the relaunch of the public contracts sector, for the acceleration of infrastructure interventions, urban regeneration and reconstruction following seismic events – so called Decreto Sblocca Cantieri;

• Decree Law 76 of 2020

Urgent measures for simplification and digital innovation – the so called Primo Decreto Semplificazioni;

• Decree Law 77 of 2021

Governance of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and initial measures to strengthen administrative structures and speed up and shorten procedures – the so called Secondo Decreto Semplificazioni;

• Decree Law 41 of 2021

Urgent measures in support of businesses and economic operators, labour, health and territorial services, related to the COVID-19 emergency – the so called Decreto Sostegni;

• Decree Law 36 of 2022

Further urgent measures for the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR);

• Decree Law 50 of 2022

Urgent measures concerning national energy policies national energy policies, business productivity and investment attraction, as well as in the field of social policies and the Ukrainian crisis – the so called Decreto Aiuti;

• Decree Law 73 of 2022

Urgent measures on tax simplifications and labour clearance, State Treasury and further financial and social provisions (still in the process of being converted into law).

Please note that by January 2023, a new version of the Public Contracts Code should be adopted on the basis of the principles contained in the enabling act published in the GURI (Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana) on 24 June 2022.

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

Italy is a member of the European Union. The European Union and its 27 member States count as one party of the GPA.

The EU implements its international obligations with Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement which in Article 25 provides that ‘In so far as they are covered by Annexes 1, 2, 4 and 5 and the General Notes to the European Union’s Appendix I to the GPA and by the other international agreements by which the Union is bound, contracting authorities shall accord to the works, supplies, services and economic operators of the signatories to those agreements treatment no less favorable than the treatment accorded to the works, supplies, services and economic operators of the Union’.

Article 49 of Legislative Decree No 50 of 18 April 2016, reproduces almost entirely the content of Art. 25 of the abovementioned Directive, which clarifies the principle of equalization of the access conditions granted to business operators in countries who are signatories to the international agreements that are binding on the European Union in matters of public procurement.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

GPA is a binding international treaty aimed at mutually open government procurement markets among its parties. The WTO website says that ‘the text of the Agreement establishes rules requiring that open, fair and transparent conditions of competition be ensured in government procurement. However, these rules do not automatically apply to all procurement activities of each party. Rather, the coverage schedules play a critical role in determining whether a procurement activity is covered by the Agreement or not. Only those procurement activities that are carried out by covered entities purchasing listed goods, services or construction services of a value exceeding specified threshold values are covered by the Agreement. These schedules are publicly available here’.

Indeed, Art. I, paragraph 4, of the GPA states that the agreement ‘applies to any procurement contract of a value of not less than the relevant threshold specified in Appendix I’.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

Article 3 of Legislative Decree 50/2016 defines the procuring entities, which are obliged to comply with the procurement legislation when awarding procurement and concession contracts, as:

• the administrations of the State;

• territorial public bodies;

• other non-economic public bodies;

• public economic entities;

• bodies governed by public law; associations unions, consortia, however named, formed by these entities;

• with reference to procurement and concession contracts in the so-called special sectors regulated by the Public Contracts Code, ‘awarding entities’ - eg enti aggiudicatori (also listed in aforementioned Article 3) are added.

Which types of contracts are covered?

The Italian legal system distinguishes between EU-wide and below-threshold contracts. The Community relevance threshold is therefore a distinguishing criterion.

EU-wide contracts are public contracts whose estimated value net of VAT is equal to or greater than the thresholds variously provided for in Article 35 of Legislative Decree 50/2016 (Public Contracts Code).

Sub-threshold contracts, on the other hand, are public contracts which have an estimated value net of VAT which is below the thresholds provided for in Article 35, for which exceptions to the application of the general rules are provided in order to combine the requirements of fairness and transparency with more rapid and flexible contracting tools pursuant to the procedures set forth in Article 36 of the same Code.

It should be noted that Decree Law 76 of 2020 (Urgent measures for simplification and digital innovation – the so called "Primo Decreto Semplificazioni") as amended by the Decree Law 77 of 2021 (Governance of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and initial measures to strengthen administrative structures and speed up and shorten procedures – the so called "Secondo Decreto Semplificazioni") introduced an emergency (linked to the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic), temporary regulation (insofar as it is applicable to contracts where the act of initiation of the tendering procedure is adopted by 30 June 2023) that increases the threshold values indicated in Article 36 of the Public Contracts Code in order to guarantee, for contracts of modest value, simplified procedural forms and quicker procurement times.

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

Regarding EU-wide contracts, the Italian legal system provides for a limited number of exceptions to the principle of competitive bidding. Specifically, these exceptions, in ordinary sectors, are provided for by Article 63 of the Legislative Decree 50/2016 (Public Contracts Code), entitled 'Use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a tender notice'.

Regarding special sectors, the reference norm is Article 125 of the same Legislative Decree, entitled 'Use of the negotiated procedure without prior call for tender'. Specifically, the same Code, inter alia, provides for exceptions if one of these conditions occurs:

• the abandoned (gara deserta) or unsuccessful tender and the transition to the negotiated procedure without tender notice;

• the uniqueness of the economic operator;

• urgency, extreme urgency and emergency measures;

• complementary deliveries;

• modification of contracts during the period of effectiveness without a new award procedure (Article 106).

It should be noted that the negotiated procedure without a tender pursuant to Article 63 of the Public Contracts Code is exceptional with respect to the general obligation to award public contracts by competitive tendering and may only take place in cases specified by law.

It should be noted that Decree-Law 77/2020, converted into Law 120/2020, as amended by Decree-Law 78/2021, converted into Law 108/2021, introduced, exceptionally and temporarily, a number of additional and specific cases in which the negotiated procedure may be used, even for EU-wide contracts.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

The reform of the Public Contracts Code is envisaged by the PNRR (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza). By January 2023, the new Code should be adopted on the basis of the principles contained in the enabling act published in the GURI (Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana) on 24 June 2022.

Key procurement resources

• the Italian Government's web page

• the website of the Ministry of Ecological Transaction 

• Italia Domani web page

• Legislative Decree No 50 of 18 April 2016

• Appalti&Contratti’s article of 13 February 2019

• Studio Legale Vis’s article of 20 April 2020

• Presidential Decree No. 207 of 5 October 2010

• Legislative Decree No 163 of 12 April 2006

• Decree Law 32 of 2019

• Decree Law 76 of 2020

• Decree Law 77 of 2021

• Decree Law 41 of 2021

• Decree Law 36 of 2022

• Decree Law 50 of 2022

• Decree Law 73 of 2022

• GURI, 24 June 2022

• GPA

• Directive 2014/24/EU

• WTO website

• Diritto.it’s article of 29 September 2020

• Altalex’s article of 8 November 2021

• Council of State, sec. V, 15.02.2022 no. 1108 ruling

• Appalti&Contratti’s article of 21 December 2021

• l'Amministrativista’s article of 16 giugno 2022

• Appalti&Contratti’s article of 8 July 2022

Country Contact

Floran Pustina
Partner, Tashko Pustina SH.P.K, Kosovo.

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of 'green' contracting opportunities?

Government tenders are published on the online platform of public procurement here.  Apart from this e-procurement platform, there are no other sources for government announcement of “green” contracting opportunities.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity?

The Law on Public Procurement No.04/L-042, as amended (LPP) provides for fair and equal treatment of all economic operators involved in a procurement activity. Accordingly, a bidder established outside of Kosovo may participate in the bidding process without having to register in Kosovo. Depending on the awarded contract/tender documents (ie, Terms of Reference), a bidder may establish an SPV or set up a corporate subsidiary. However, based on current market practice in Kosovo, generally the successful bidder is requested to establish a SPV after the award of the contract.

Is there any requirement for 'local content'?

The Kosovan Law on Foreigners provides for the right of the government to approve annual quotas for the employment of non-citizens for the following year.

Such quotas have never been approved and currently, there are no published quotas approved by the government in Kosovo.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation?

The applicable procurement legislation includes the main law – LPP - as well the secondary legislation adopted thereof, in the form of Rules, Operational Guidelines, Administrative Instructions and Regulations. The legal framework of public procurement is also translated in English.

All the legal acts pertaining to public procurement may be found here and here.

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

To date, Kosovo has not yet ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, nor any bilateral trade agreement with respect to government procurement commitments.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

Not applicable.

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

All public authorities .

Which types of contracts are covered?

The LPP addresses and applies to all public procurement activities and contracts, including contracts where 50% of its estimated value is either directly subsidized by a contracting authority or otherwise financed with public funds.

Exceptions are provided by the LPP for contracts in the field of defence and security, such as:

• supply with military equipment, including any spares and/or any of its components;

• supply of sensitive equipment, including any spares and/or any of its components;

• works, supplies and services directly linked to equipment mentioned above;

• works and services for specific military purposes; and

• sensitive work and services for military purposes.

In addition to the above, the following contracts also fall outside the scope of the LPP:

• contracts governed by specific procurement rules, pursuant to an international agreement or arrangement concluded between Kosovo and one or more third countries;

• contracts governed by specific procurement rules under an international agreement relating to the stationing of Kosovan military troops;

• contracts for which the application of the provisions of the LPP or the Regulation on procurement for defence and security purposes would force Kosovo to provide information, the disclosure of which is contrary to the essential interests of its security;

• contracts for purposes of intelligence system related bodies;

• contracts awarded in the frame of a cooperation program, based on research and development, carried out jointly by Kosovo and one or more other countries for development of a new product and, where applicable, for the last stages of the all or part of the lifecycle of this product;

• contracts awarded in a third country, including those for civil purposes, where the forces are stationed outside the territory of Kosovo if operational needs require entering into contracts with economic operators located in the area of operations;

• contracts entered into by state authorities or units of local self-government of Kosovo with the state authorities or the local authorities of another country, and with regard to the supply of military equipment or sensitive equipment.

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding?

Yes, namely the LPP recognizes two alternative procedures to competitive bidding:

• The negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice; and

• The procedure for minimal value contracts.

The negotiated procedure without publication of contract notice: a contracting authority may use this procedure when awarding:

• any public contract:

• when for technical or artistic reasons there is only one possible economic operator;

• due to the existence of exclusive copyrights, there is only one possible economic operator;

• in cases of extreme urgency.

• a supply contract:

• for additional deliveries by the same supplier, not more than 10% of the value of the contract, subject to certain conditions;

• if the contracting authority is a public service operator for purchase of commodities at a commodities market, commodities exchange, or similar open trading platform or system.

• a service contract:

• if it follows from a design contest;

• if a contracting authority enjoys exclusive rights to provide such services.

• a service or works contract:

• for additional services or works not included in the original contract subject to certain conditions (original economic operator performs the additional services or works, that cannot technically or economically be divided, although as separable are still strictly necessary for the completion, and the value does not exceed 10% of the value of the original contract);

• for new services or works which include the repetition of similar works or services entrusted to the economic operator subject to certain conditions (are in conformity with the basic project; this possibility is disclosed in the tender; it takes place during a period of two years after the conclusion of the original contract; and the value does not exceed 10% of the value of the original contract).

The same exemptions also apply in the case of acquisition or rental of land or other immovable property or related rights. 

The procedure for minimal value contracts: this procedure is used in cases of contracts the estimated value of which is less than EUR 1,000. In this procedure a contracting authority may directly invite to bid at least three economic operators, without publishing a contract notice.

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

Yes, a proposal for a new Law on Public Procurement was included in the Legislative Program for the year 2022. The Draft law was to be published for public consultation in June, however it was postponed for an unspecified period of time. Nonetheless, due to numerous reports from local and international organizations emphasizing the need of a new law on public procurement, the latter is expected to enter into force by the end of 2022, or beginning of 2023

Key procurement resources

All procurement related documents and information in three languages (Albanian, Serbian and English) may be found here.

Country Contacts

Bérénice Wathelet
Counsel, DLA Piper

Maëlle Rixhon
Lawyer, DLA Piper

Government Procurement

Where are government tenders advertised? Are there any different sources for government announcements of 'green' contracting opportunities?

EU-wide tenders have to be advertised on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily). 

In addition, the national database is here. 

There is no specific database focusing on "green" contracting opportunities.

Are there any requirements for bidders to be established in the jurisdiction in order to bid or execute a contract with the procuring entity? 

The public procurement legislation does not require that bidders are established in the Luxembourg jurisdiction in order to be able to take part in public tenders. 

Pursuant to article 25 of the 2014/24/EU directive and to article 62 of the 8 April 2018 statute on public procurement, economic operators from countries that are bound by the Agreement on Government Procurement or by other international conventions must be treated in the same way as economic operators from the European Union. 

Is there any requirement for 'local content'?

Article 49 of 8 April 2018 statute on public procurement: Preferential clause in favour of a local tenderer

By way of derogation from the provisions of Article 35, the college of burgomasters and aldermen or the body empowered to commit the public establishment under the supervision of the municipalities may, where the total amount, excluding VAT, of the contract to be concluded does not exceed 20,000, at the rate of the consumer price index as at 1 January 1948, adjusted in accordance with Article 160, award the contract to a competitor resident in the municipality, provided that the price offered by the local competitor does not exceed that of the most economically advantageous tender or that of the lowest price tender by more than 5 per cent.

The Legal Procurement Framework

What is the applicable procurement legislation? 

• 8 April 2018 statute on public procurement 

• 8 April 2018 grand-ducal regulation implementing the 8th April 2018 statute on public procurement 

• 3 July 2018 statute on the award of concession contracts 

• 26 December 2012 statute on public procurement in the fields of defence and security 

There is no general regulation on PPPs but there are some statutes on particular matters to facilitate the use of PPPs.

Has your country ratified the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), or any bilateral trade agreement with Government Procurement commitments?

Luxembourg has not ratified the GPA itself but is indirectly bound as an EU member state.

In addition, the EU has ratified several other trade agreements which contain procurement regulations. See this report from the Commission. The European economic area agreement also contains procurement commitments.

If so, how do these international trade agreements interact with the domestic procurement legislation?

Luxembourg's public procurement legislations is aligned with the EU public procurement legislation. Thus, if a decision is made at EU level to implement certain international trade provisions related to public procurement, such will be transposed into local legislation or will apply directly. 

What types of procuring entity need to comply with the procurement legislation?

The following entities, defined as "contracting authorities", have the obligation to comply with the public procurement legislation (8 April 2018 statute on public procurement, art. 2, a)):

• municipal and federal level authorities;

• bodies governed by public law; and

• associations formed by one or more such authorities.

Also, an obligation to apply the legislation on utilities procurement belongs, in addition to the above-mentioned contracting authorities, to contracting entities, namely (8 April 2018 statute on public procurement, art. 87):

• public enterprises (legal entities controlled by the above-mentioned contracting authorities); and 

• private entities exercising one of the covered activities on the basis of special or exclusive rights.

Which types of contracts are covered? 

The 8 April 2018 statute on public procurement is divided into three books. 

• Book I applies to contracts whose value does not exceed the EU thresholds. 

• Book II applies to contracts governed by the 2014/24 EU directive.

• Book III applies to contracts governed by the 2014/25 EU directive.

The 3 July 2018 statute on the award of concession contracts only applies to concession contracts whose value is equal or exceeds the EU thresholds (EUR 5,382,000).

The 26 December 2012 statute on public procurement in the fields of defence and security applies to contracts governed by the 2009/81/EC directive (EUR 431,000 for supplies and services contracts and 5,382,000 EUR for works contracts). 

Are there any exemptions to competitive bidding? 

There are various types of exemptions stated in the 8 April 2018 statute on public procurement: 

• Service contracts awarded on the basis of an exclusive right: Books I and II do not apply.

• Public contracts between entities within the public sector : Books I and II do not apply.

• Specific exclusions for service contracts (the acquisition, rental or leasing, by whatever financial means, of land, existing buildings or other immovable property or rights thereon; arbitration and conciliation services; arbitration and conciliation services; employment contracts; certain legal services; certain financial services; certain public transportation services; certain services linked to political campaigns) : Book II does not apply.

• Contracts regarding electronic communications: Book II does not apply, but Book I will apply.

• Research and development services: the above-mentioned statute does not apply (with some exceptions). 

Regarding concessions, the statute does not apply to: 

• services concessions awarded to a contracting authority or to a contracting entity as referred to in point (a) of Article 7(1) or to an association thereof on the basis of an exclusive right. Concessions are governed by other sets of legislation;

• certain concessions for air transport services;

• certain concessions to be awarded or organised in accordance with procedures dictated by other sets of legislation;

• certain concessions in the fields of defence and security;

• certain services concessions (cf. supra);

• certain concessions in the field of water;

• concessions in the field of electronic communications;

• certain concessions awarded to an affiliated undertaking;

• certain concessions awarded to a joint venture or to a contracting entity forming part of a joint venture;

• activities which are directly exposed to competition; and

• concessions between entities within the public sector.

Regarding defence contracts, mention should be made of the 26 December 2012 statute on public procurement in the fields of defence and security, art. 12 and 13  

Are there any proposals to amend the applicable procurement legislation?

Nothing material.