EU Procurement Framework

What are the principles of the EU rules?

The EU procurement framework requires contracting authorities to adopt open, fair and transparent procedures when awarding public works, public supply and public service contracts. All "economic operators" (potential deliverers of goods and services from any sector) should be given an equal opportunity to compete for the work on offer.

While these are the overall principles, public service contracts are divided by the Regulations into two categories, as follows:

• Part A services, e.g. Transportation Services, Research & Development, Telecommunications, Computer services, Market research, Consultancy
  • These services are subject to the full requirements of the 2006 Regulations
• Part B services, e.g. Education, Health & Social Care services, Recreational, Sporting & cultural services
  • Fewer requirements of the 2006 Regulations apply to these service areas, on the principle of "lighter touch"

For Part A services, along with contracts for public works and supply, certain financial thresholds apply, i.e. if the contract value is over a certain level, contracting authorities must go down the route of full advertising via the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). Please see the EU Thresholds document for details. The full requirements of the 2006 Regulations, including the need to advertise in the OJEU, do not apply to Part B services (see Scottish Procurement Policy Note, SPPN 10/2008: Social Care Procurement: Advertising and Competition)

EU Public Procurement Procedures

Once a public sector provider has decided to go to tender for a particular service area (and in relation to Part B services, this decision must be made on a case-by-case basis) there are four different procedures which can be followed:

• Open
  • All interested providers invited to make tender bids; the selection is made directly from all tenders submitted
• Restricted
  • Two stage process. Interested providers are screened, often through a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire. Those selected are invited to submit a formal tender
• Negotiated
  • Limited use. Pre-qualification stage then at least three potential providers are invited to negotiate
• Competitive dialogue
  • Only for particularly complex contracts where tender specification cannot be determined without dialogue with providers. Pre-qualification stage then dialogue with at least three potential bidders before tender documents are issued

Contracting authorities may also have their own Standing Orders or Policies for dealing with procurement which potential bidders may have to take into account.

---

Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view the PDF documents on this page. If you don't have it, you can download a free copy from www.adobe.com.

---