Clifford Chance
The New EU Public Procurement Rules
1 April 2014
The EU has adopted new public procurement legislation: a new Concessions Directive and updated Utilities and Public Services Directives.
EU countries have until 17 April 2016 to transpose them into national law. The reforms are significant, and should have the practical effect of making the procurement process more flexible and less time consuming.
The new directives clarify the rules on whether variations to awarded contracts require a new tendering process, introduce a potentially groundbreaking procedure for "innovation partnerships", and codify an entirely new regime for concessions contracts.
This briefing examines the key issues and raises issues for companies to consider.
