Public procurement law put to the test

When public contracting authorities want to procure services from the market, the regulations of public procurement law come into play. The aim and purpose are to create (bidder) competition and to protect public funds. Depending on the value of the tendered services, public contracting authorities can resort to different procedures, from a completely open procedure to direct awarding to a specific supplier.

The European Court of Auditors has criticized the implementation of the EU Public Procurement Directive and the implementation of procurement procedures in the member states. Specifically, it criticizes that public contracting authorities too often award directly and that bidding competitions, also in other procedures, only take place to a very limited extent. In particular, the European Court of Auditors criticizes the fact that many procurement procedures involve only a single bidder.

Johannes Hartlieb from the Procurement Law team comments on this criticism of the European Court of Auditors in the December 12th, 2023 issue of the daily newspaper “Der Standard.” He concludes that low bidding competition is not always the fault of the contracting authority and suggests that greater flexibility in public procurement law would be desirable.

If you have any questions about the Threshold Value Regulation or other procurement law topics, our procurement law team will be happy to help you.

Disclaimer

This article is for general information only and does not replace legal advice. Haslinger / Nagele Rechtsanwälte GmbH assumes no liability for the content and correctness of this article.

 

12. December 2023

 

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