The detailed description of the grounds for exclusion can be found in the Directives in the EU legislation section (links at the bottom of the page), in your national public procurement legislation and in the documents provided by the contracting authority. The Lite Regulation (LTR) is a specific set of rules for certain service contracts that tend to be of less interest to cross-border competition. These service contracts cover certain social, health and education services defined by the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV). The list of services to which the light regime applies is set out in Schedule 3 of the Government Procurement Regulations, 2015 (Annex A). This regime allows for far fewer procedural restrictions and only applies to service contracts valued at more than EUR 750 000 (GBP 615 278 in the UK). In its judgment in the Teckal case [see note 11], the CJEU recognised that, in certain situations, a contracting authority may award a contract directly to a legally separate third party without a competitive tendering procedure, which is not in practice an independent body. The applicable test has two parts. On the one hand, the `control test` requires the power to exercise over the third party awarded the contract `control analogous to that which it exercises over its own departments`. Second, the «functional test» requires the third party to carry out «the essential part of its activities» for the authority (the supervisory body). If these two conditions are met, the contract will be treated as an «internal» administrative arrangement that does not fall within the scope of the 2014 Directives. The CJEU has also ruled that these principles apply to contracts that are only subject to the general principles of the EU (Parking Brixen [see note 12]).
The European Commission estimates that the removal of trade barriers resulting from discriminatory and preferential practices in public procurement could save the European economy around 0.5% of EU GDP[29], or around USD 92 billion in 2008. These savings are thought to be due to three effects: The trade effect represents the actual and potential savings resulting from lower purchase prices than is possible with a larger pool of suppliers. The competitive effect represents the improvement of the efficiency and performance of previously protected domestic firms through increased competition and manifests itself in price convergence. However, it did not apply to government suppliers or products originating outside the EC until it was amended by Directive 80/767 following the Community`s approval of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1979 on Government Procurement. [8] Innovation partnerships were first approved as part of a series of public procurement reforms introduced by the 2014 Directive and implemented in the UK Public Procurement Regulations 2015. The EU is expected to publish its guidelines on the functioning of innovation partnerships in 2016 [63] and other EU countries are expected to implement the new regulations by April 2016. [64] Innovation partnerships are likely to be long-term in nature and may include three-phase contracts, including research and proof of concept, an intermediate development phase and a procurement phase. The European Parliament welcomed the new option as an opportunity to «strengthen innovative solutions in public procurement» by «allowing public authorities to launch calls for tenders to solve a specific problem without prejudging the solution, thus leaving the contracting authority and the tenderer the opportunity to find innovative solutions together».
[65] The classic 2014 Directive applies to «public contracts», which must be performed «for consideration» and «in writing» between one or more public sector bodies and one or more service providers and relate to the execution of works, the supply of goods or the provision of services. All public procurement procedures in the European Union are conducted on the basis of national rules. For higher value contracts, these rules are based on general EU public procurement rules. The limits or value thresholds for EU rules depend on the purpose of the purchase and the person making the purchase. These thresholds are reviewed periodically and the amounts are slightly adjusted. The limits are €139,000 for most types of services and supplies purchased by central government agencies and €5,350,000 for construction contracts. National rules should also be confirmed. Lower-value tenders are only subject to national public procurement rules, but the general principles of transparency and equal treatment of the European Union should be respected.
EU public procurement law is based on certain general principles stemming from the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union («TFEU») [see note 3] and aims to ensure equal access to public procurement opportunities in other EU Member States and fair competition in public procurement for all operators in the EU Single Market. If the time limit for lodging an appeal falls on a Saturday or public holiday, it expires on the day following the non-working day(s). The thresholds for the application of the Law on Government Procurement depend on the procedure used for the award of a specific contract in accordance with Article 2 of the Law. In the case of ordinary contracts, the Law on Government Procurement (including procurement rules) applies if the value of the contract exceeds PLN 130 000 net. Sectoral, defence and security contracts are covered by public procurement law (including public procurement law) if their value exceeds EU thresholds. There are also limitations in AMP coverage that apply specifically to U.S.-based companies. U.S. companies may not bid on works and service contracts awarded by sub-central contracting authorities in the water, airport, urban and rail transportation, dredging services, and shipbuilding and subsector contracts. Procurement of defence-related products (and related services) may also be excluded on the basis of the general exemption provided for in Article 346 TFEU. A specific Directive, Directive 2009/81/EC on defence procurement and sensitive security issues (the «Defence Directive»), which entered into force on 21 August 2009 and had to be transposed by Member States by 21 August 2011, lays down specific rules for the procurement of arms, ammunition and war material (and related works and services) for defence purposes. and for the procurement of sensitive supplies, construction and services for non-military security purposes. The Defence Directive is in force alongside the 2014 Directives.
In addition, the first review Directives 89/665 (public works and supply contracts) and 92/13 (public services) required Member States to ensure rapid and effective judicial review of decisions taken by contracting authorities. The Directives also introduced the «certification procedure», which allows contracting authorities to certify the conformity of their procurement procedures and practices with public procurement law. [18] Finally, five candidate countries currently wish to join the EU: Albania; Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; Montenegro; Serbia; and Turkey. EU candidate countries are fully subject to EU law, including EU public procurement law. Under public procurement law, the value of the contract has no influence on the rules governing the award of contracts. The rules for awarding contracts set out in Articles 16 to 20 of the Law on Public Procurement, namely: Fair competition and equal treatment of contractors, transparency, proportionality, efficiency, legality, impartiality and objectivity, advertising and written form apply to the award of all public contracts covered by the Law on Public Procurement. Public contracts or public contracts are awarded by the public authorities of the European Union (EU) and its Member States to award contracts for public works and the purchase of goods and services in accordance with the principles underlying the Treaties of the European Union. Public procurement accounted for 13.5% of EU GDP in 2007[1] and has been subject to increasing European regulation since the 1970s due to its importance for the European single market.
In addition, EU rules under the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) apply directly to Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.