The process of public procurement

The procedures for Public Procurement in the EU can seem a daunting task with many rules and regulations which require potential businesses and contracting authorities to abide by. EU Public Procurement is the method in which national government, public authorities or other public agencies purchase goods, services or commission work from potential contractors or service providers. The aim of EU procurement is to achieve an internal market in public procurement and these derive from the Treaty of the European Union as well as from Procurement Directives.

The benefit for liberalising the public procurement market is that it encourages free trade, on the basis that it makes an important contribution to economic growth. The European Commission estimate that public procurement account for approximately 16% of the EC's gross domestic product (GDP). The publication of public procurement opportunities are published in the Official Journal of the European Union (also referred to as the OJEU) with some public contracts being regulated by two European Directives.

These European Directives regulate contracts related to public works, supply and service contracts (Directive 2004/17/EC) as well as regulate contracting authorities associated with water, energy, transport and postal services (Directive 2004/18/EC). The directives cover public contracts that are above a certain threshold. Further information regarding the 2010 Thresholds (Regulation (EC) 1177/2009) is available.

Threshold Values

Notices are required to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union should contracts for works, supply or services are above the following threshold:

public works contracts worth above €4,845,000
public supply and service contracts worth above €125,000 for central government authorities
public supply and service contracts worth above €193,000 for sub-central entities
public supply and service contracts worth above €387,000 for contracting authorities operating in water, energy, transport or postal services

Under the Public Sector Directive, contracting authorities must generally advertise contracts by an EU wide advertisement in the OJEU. Contract notices, usually referred to as an "Invitation to Tender", and is sent by contracting authorities in a standard form. Information that must be contained in the notice contains contact details of the contracting authority, a description of the contract and the time for delivery or performance. A standard 'Invitation to Tender' is available to view for further reference.

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