TITLE ISCOPE, DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES
CHAPTER I Scope and definitions
Article 1Subject-matter and scope
1.
This Directive establishes rules on the procedures for procurement by contracting authorities with respect to public contracts as well as design contests, whose value is estimated to be not less than the thresholds laid down in Article 4.
2.
Procurement within the meaning of this Directive is the acquisition by means of a public contract of works, supplies or services by one or more contracting authorities from economic operators chosen by those contracting authorities, whether or not the works, supplies or services are intended for a public purpose.
3.
The application of this Directive is subject to Article 346 TFEU.
4.
This Directive does not affect the freedom of Member States to define, in conformity with Union law, what they consider to be services of general economic interest, how those services should be organised and financed, in compliance with the State aid rules, and what specific obligations they should be subject to. Equally, this Directive does not affect the decision of public authorities whether, how and to what extent they wish to perform public functions themselves pursuant to Article 14 TFEU and Protocol No 26.
5.
This Directive does not affect the way in which the Member States organise their social security systems.
6.
Agreements, decisions or other legal instruments that organise the transfer of powers and responsibilities for the performance of public tasks between contracting authorities or groupings of contracting authorities and do not provide for remuneration to be given for contractual performance, are considered to be a matter of internal organisation of the Member State concerned and, as such, are not affected in any way by this Directive.
Article 2Definitions
1.
For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply:
- (1)
‘contracting authorities’ means the State, regional or local authorities, bodies governed by public law or associations formed by one or more such authorities or one or more such bodies governed by public law;
- (2)
‘central government authorities’ means the contracting authorities listed in Annex I and, in so far as corrections or amendments have been made at national level, their successor entities;
- (3)
‘sub-central contracting authorities’ means all contracting authorities which are not central government authorities;
- (4)
‘bodies governed by public law’ means bodies that have all of the following characteristics:
- (a)
they are established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character;
- (b)
they have legal personality; and
- (c)
they are financed, for the most part, by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law; or are subject to management supervision by those authorities or bodies; or have an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law;
- (a)
- (5)
‘public contracts’ means contracts for pecuniary interest concluded in writing between one or more economic operators and one or more contracting authorities and having as their object the execution of works, the supply of products or the provision of services;
- (6)
‘public works contracts’ means public contracts having as their object one of the following:
- (a)
the execution, or both the design and execution, of works related to one of the activities within the meaning of Annex II;
- (b)
the execution, or both the design and execution, of a work;
- (c)
the realisation, by whatever means, of a work corresponding to the requirements specified by the contracting authority exercising a decisive influence on the type or design of the work;
- (a)
- (7)
‘a work’ means the outcome of building or civil engineering works taken as a whole which is sufficient in itself to fulfil an economic or technical function;
- (8)
‘public supply contracts’ means public contracts having as their object the purchase, lease, rental or hire-purchase, with or without an option to buy, of products. A public supply contract may include, as an incidental matter, siting and installation operations;
- (9)
‘public service contracts’ means public contracts having as their object the provision of services other than those referred to in point 6;
- (10)
‘economic operator’ means any natural or legal person or public entity or group of such persons and/or entities, including any temporary association of undertakings, which offers the execution of works and/or a work, the supply of products or the provision of services on the market;
- (11)
‘tenderer’ means an economic operator that has submitted a tender;
- (12)
‘candidate’ means an economic operator that has sought an invitation or has been invited to take part in a restricted procedure, in a competitive procedure with negotiation, in a negotiated procedure without prior publication, in a competitive dialogue or in an innovation partnership;
- (13)
‘procurement document’ means any document produced or referred to by the contracting authority to describe or determine elements of the procurement or the procedure, including the contract notice, the prior information notice where it is used as a means of calling for competition, the technical specifications, the descriptive document, proposed conditions of contract, formats for the presentation of documents by candidates and tenderers, information on generally applicable obligations and any additional documents;
- (14)
‘centralised purchasing activities’ means activities conducted on a permanent basis, in one of the following forms:
- (a)
the acquisition of supplies and/or services intended for contracting authorities,
- (b)
the award of public contracts or the conclusion of framework agreements for works, supplies or services intended for contracting authorities;
- (a)
- (15)
‘ancillary purchasing activities’ means activities consisting in the provision of support to purchasing activities, in particular in the following forms:
- (a)
technical infrastructure enabling contracting authorities to award public contracts or to conclude framework agreements for works, supplies or services;
- (b)
advice on the conduct or design of public procurement procedures;
- (c)
preparation and management of procurement procedures on behalf and for the account of the contracting authority concerned;
- (a)
- (16)
‘central purchasing body’ means a contracting authority providing centralised purchasing activities and, possibly, ancillary purchasing activities;
- (17)
‘procurement service provider’ means a public or private body which offers ancillary purchasing activities on the market;
- (18)
‘written’ or ‘in writing’ means any expression consisting of words or figures which can be read, reproduced and subsequently communicated, including information transmitted and stored by electronic means;
- (19)
‘electronic means’ means electronic equipment for the processing (including digital compression) and storage of data which is transmitted, conveyed and received by wire, by radio, by optical means or by other electromagnetic means;
- (20)
‘life cycle’ means all consecutive and/or interlinked stages, including research and development to be carried out, production, trading and its conditions, transport, use and maintenance, throughout the existence of the product or the works or the provision of the service, from raw material acquisition or generation of resources to disposal, clearance and end of service or utilisation;
- (21)
‘design contests’ means those procedures which enable the contracting authority to acquire, mainly in the fields of town and country planning, architecture and engineering or data processing, a plan or design selected by a jury after being put out to competition with or without the award of prizes;
- (22)
‘innovation’ means the implementation of a new or significantly improved product, service or process, including but not limited to production, building or construction processes, a new marketing method, or a new organisational method in business practices, workplace organisation or external relations inter alia with the purpose of helping to solve societal challenges or to support the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth;
- (23)
‘label’ means any document, certificate or attestation confirming that the works, products, services, processes or procedures in question meet certain requirements;
- (24)
‘label requirements’ means the requirements to be met by the works, products, services, processes or procedures in question in order to obtain the label concerned.
2.
Article 3Mixed procurement
1.
Paragraph 2 shall apply to mixed contracts which have as their subject-matter different types of procurement all of which are covered by this Directive.
Paragraphs 3 to 5 shall apply to mixed contracts which have as their subject-matter procurement covered by this Directive and procurement covered by other legal regimes.
2.
Contracts which have as their subject two or more types of procurement (works, services or supplies) shall be awarded in accordance with the provisions applicable to the type of procurement that characterises the main subject of the contract in question.
In the case of mixed contracts consisting partly of services within the meaning of Chapter I of Title III and partly of other services or of mixed contracts consisting partly of services and partly of supplies, the main subject shall be determined in accordance with which of the estimated values of the respective services or supplies is the highest.
3.
Where the different parts of a given contract are objectively separable, paragraph 4 shall apply. Where the different parts of a given contract are objectively not separable, paragraph 6 shall apply.
Where part of a given contract is covered by Article 346 TFEU or Directive 2009/81/EC, Article 16 of this Directive shall apply.
4.
In the case of contracts which have as their subject-matter procurement covered by this Directive as well as procurement not covered by this Directive, contracting authorities may choose to award separate contracts for the separate parts or to award a single contract. Where contracting authorities choose to award separate contracts for separate parts, the decision as to which legal regime applies to any one of such separate contracts shall be taken on the basis of the characteristics of the separate part concerned.
Where contracting authorities choose to award a single contract, this Directive shall, unless otherwise provided in Article 16, apply to the ensuing mixed contract, irrespective of the value of the parts that would otherwise fall under a different legal regime and irrespective of which legal regime those parts would otherwise have been subject to.
In the case of mixed contracts containing elements of supply, works and service contracts and of concessions, the mixed contract shall be awarded in accordance with this Directive, provided that the estimated value of the part of the contract which constitutes a contract covered by this Directive, calculated in accordance with Article 5, is equal to or greater than the relevant threshold set out in Article 4.
5.
In the case of contracts which have as their subject both procurement covered by this Directive and procurement for the pursuit of an activity which is subject to Directive 2014/25/EU, the applicable rules shall, notwithstanding paragraph 4 of this Article, be determined pursuant to Articles 5 and 6 of Directive 2014/25/EU.
6.
Where the different parts of a given contract are objectively not separable, the applicable legal regime shall be determined on the basis of the main subject-matter of that contract.
Article 4Threshold amounts
This Directive shall apply to procurements with a value net of value-added tax (VAT) estimated to be equal to or greater than the following thresholds:
- (a)
F1EUR 5 350 000 for public works contracts;
- (b)
F1EUR 139 000 for public supply and service contracts awarded by central government authorities and design contests organised by such authorities; where public supply contracts are awarded by contracting authorities operating in the field of defence, that threshold shall apply only to contracts concerning products covered by Annex III;
- (c)
F1EUR 214 000 for public supply and service contracts awarded by sub-central contracting authorities and design contests organised by such authorities; that threshold shall also apply to public supply contracts awarded by central government authorities that operate in the field of defence, where those contracts involve products not covered by Annex III;
- (d)
EUR 750 000 for public service contracts for social and other specific services listed in Annex XIV.
Article 5Methods for calculating the estimated value of procurement
1.
The calculation of the estimated value of a procurement shall be based on the total amount payable, net of VAT, as estimated by the contracting authority, including any form of option and any renewals of the contracts as explicitly set out in the procurement documents.
Where the contracting authority provides for prizes or payments to candidates or tenderers it shall take them into account when calculating the estimated value of the procurement.
2.
Where a contracting authority is comprised of separate operational units, account shall be taken of the total estimated value for all the individual operational units.
Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, where a separate operational unit is independently responsible for its procurement or certain categories thereof, the values may be estimated at the level of the unit in question.
3.
The choice of the method used to calculate the estimated value of a procurement shall not be made with the intention of excluding it from the scope of this Directive. A procurement shall not be subdivided with the effect of preventing it from falling within the scope of this Directive, unless justified by objective reasons.
4.
That estimated value shall be valid at the moment at which the call for competition is sent, or, in cases where a call for competition is not foreseen, at the moment at which the contracting authority commences the procurement procedure, for instance, where appropriate, by contacting economic operators in relation to the procurement.
5.
With regard to framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems, the value to be taken into consideration shall be the maximum estimated value net of VAT of all the contracts envisaged for the total term of the framework agreement or the dynamic purchasing system.
6.
In the case of innovation partnerships, the value to be taken into consideration shall be the maximum estimated value net of VAT of the research and development activities to take place during all stages of the envisaged partnership as well as of the supplies, services or works to be developed and procured at the end of the envisaged partnership.
7.
With regard to public works contracts, the calculation of the estimated value shall take account of both the cost of the works and the total estimated value of the supplies and services that are made available to the contractor by the contracting authority provided that they are necessary for executing the works.
8.
Where a proposed work or a proposed provision of services may result in contracts being awarded in the form of separate lots, account shall be taken of the total estimated value of all such lots.
Where the aggregate value of the lots is equal to or exceeds the threshold laid down in Article 4, this Directive shall apply to the awarding of each lot.
9.
Where a proposal for the acquisition of similar supplies may result in contracts being awarded in the form of separate lots, account shall be taken of the total estimated value of all such lots when applying points (b) and (c) of Article 4.
Where the aggregate value of the lots is equal to or exceeds the threshold laid down in Article 4, this Directive shall apply to the awarding of each lot.
10.
Notwithstanding paragraphs 8 and 9, contracting authorities may award contracts for individual lots without applying the procedures provided for under this Directive, provided that the estimated value net of VAT of the lot concerned is less than EUR 80 000 for supplies or services or EUR 1 million for works. However, the aggregate value of the lots thus awarded without applying this Directive shall not exceed 20 % of the aggregate value of all the lots into which the proposed work, the proposed acquisition of similar supplies or the proposed provision of services has been divided.
11.
In the case of public supply or service contracts which are regular in nature or which are intended to be renewed within a given period, the calculation of the estimated contract value shall be based on the following:
(a)
either the total actual value of the successive contracts of the same type awarded during the preceding 12 months or financial year adjusted, where possible, to take account of the changes in quantity or value which would occur in the course of the 12 months following the initial contract;
(b)
or the total estimated value of the successive contracts awarded during the 12 months following the first delivery, or during the financial year where that is longer than 12 months.
12.
With regard to public supply contracts relating to the leasing, hire, rental or hire purchase of products, the value to be taken as a basis for calculating the estimated contract value shall be as follows:
(a)
in the case of fixed-term public contracts, where that term is less than or equal to 12 months, the total estimated value for the term of the contract or, where the term of the contract is greater than 12 months, the total value including the estimated residual value;
(b)
in the case of public contracts without a fixed term or the term of which cannot be defined, the monthly value multiplied by 48.
13.
With regard to public service contracts, the basis for calculating the estimated contract value shall, where appropriate, be the following:
(a)
insurance services: the premium payable and other forms of remuneration;
(b)
banking and other financial services: the fees, commissions payable, interest and other forms of remuneration;
(c)
design contracts: fees, commissions payable and other forms of remuneration.
14.
With regard to public service contracts which do not indicate a total price, the basis for calculating the estimated contract value shall be the following:
(a)
in the case of fixed-term contracts, where that term is less than or equal to 48 months: the total value for their full term;
(b)
in the case of contracts without a fixed term or with a term greater than 48 months: the monthly value multiplied by 48.
Article 6Revision of the thresholds and of the list of central government authorities
1.
Every two years from 30 June 2013, the Commission shall verify that the thresholds set out in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 4 correspond to the thresholds established in the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) and shall, where necessary, revise them in accordance with this Article.
In accordance with the calculation method set out in the GPA, the Commission shall calculate the value of these thresholds on the basis of the average daily value of the euro in terms of the special drawing rights (SDRs), over a period of 24 months terminating on 31 August preceding the revision with effect from 1 January. The value of the thresholds thus revised shall, where necessary, be rounded down to the nearest thousand euros so as to ensure that the thresholds in force provided for by the GPA, expressed in SDRs, are observed.
2.
When carrying out the revision pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, the Commission shall, in addition, revise:
(a)
the threshold established in point (a) of the first paragraph of Article 13 by aligning it with the revised threshold applying to public works contracts;
(b)
the threshold established in point (b) of the first paragraph of Article 13 by aligning it with the revised threshold applying to public service contracts awarded by sub-central contracting authorities.
3.
Every two years from 1 January 2014, the Commission shall determine the values, in the national currencies of the Member States, whose currency is not the euro, of the thresholds referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 4, revised pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article.
At the same time, the Commission shall determine the value, in the national currencies of the Member States, whose currency is not the euro, of the threshold referred to in point (d) of Article 4.
In accordance with the calculation method set out in the GPA, the determination of such values shall be based on the average daily values of those currencies corresponding to the applicable threshold expressed in euros over the 24 months terminating on 31 August preceding the revision with effect from 1 January.
4.
The Commission shall publish the revised thresholds referred to in paragraph 1, their corresponding values in the national currencies referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 3, and the value determined in accordance with the second subparagraph of paragraph 3 in the Official Journal of the European Union at the beginning of the month of November following their revision.
5.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 87 to adapt the methodology set out in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article to any change in the methodology provided in the GPA for the revision of the thresholds referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 4 and for the determination of the corresponding values in the national currencies of the Member States, whose currency is not the euro, as referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 87 to revise the thresholds referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 4 pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article and to revise the thresholds referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first paragraph of Article 13 pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article.
6.
Where it is necessary to revise the thresholds referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 4 and the thresholds referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first paragraph of Article 13 and time constraints prevent the use of the procedure set in Article 87 and therefore imperative grounds of urgency so require, the procedure provided for in Article 88 shall apply to delegated acts adopted pursuant to the second subparagraph of paragraph 5 of this Article.
7.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 87 to amend Annex I, in order to update the list of contracting authorities following notifications from Member States, where such amendments prove necessary to correctly identify contracting authorities.
Article 7Contracts in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors
This Directive shall not apply to public contracts and design contests which, under Directive 2014/25/EU, are awarded or organised by contracting authorities exercising one or more of the activities referred to in Articles 8 to 14 of that Directive and are awarded for the pursuit of those activities, to public contracts excluded from the scope of that Directive under Articles 18, 23 and 34 thereof or, when awarded by a contracting authority which provides postal services within the meaning of point (b) of Article 13(2) of that Directive, to contracts awarded for the pursuit of the following activities:
- (a)
added value services linked to and provided entirely by electronic means (including the secure transmission of coded documents by electronic means, address management services and transmission of registered electronic mail);
- (b)
financial services which are covered by CPV codes 66100000-1 to 66720000-3 and by point (d) of Article 21 of Directive 2014/25/EU and including in particular postal money orders and postal giro transfers;
- (c)
philatelic services; or
- (d)
logistics services (services combining physical delivery and/or warehousing with other non-postal functions).
Article 8Specific exclusions in the field of electronic communications
This Directive shall not apply to public contracts and design contests for the principal purpose of permitting the contracting authorities to provide or exploit public communications networks or to provide to the public one or more electronic communications services.
Article 9Public contracts awarded and design contests organised pursuant to international rules
1.
This Directive shall not apply to public contracts and design contests which the contracting authority is obliged to award or organise in accordance with procurement procedures different from those laid down in this Directive established by any of the following:
(a)
a legal instrument creating international law obligations, such as an international agreement, concluded in conformity with the Treaties, between a Member State and one or more third countries or subdivisions thereof and covering works, supplies or services intended for the joint implementation or exploitation of a project by their signatories;
(b)
an international organisation.
The Member States shall communicate all legal instruments referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph to the Commission, which may consult the Advisory Committee on Public Procurement referred to in Article 89.
2.
This Directive shall not apply to public contracts and design contests which the contracting authority awards or organises in accordance with procurement rules provided by an international organisation or international financing institution, where the public contracts and design contests concerned are fully financed by that organisation or institution; in the case of public contracts and design contests co-financed for the most part by an international organisation or international financing institution the parties shall agree on applicable procurement procedures.
3.
Article 17 shall apply to contracts and design contests involving defence or security aspects which are awarded or organised pursuant to international rules. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not apply to those contracts and design contests.
Article 10Specific exclusions for service contracts
This Directive shall not apply to public service contracts for:
- (a)
the acquisition or rental, by whatever financial means, of land, existing buildings or other immovable property or concerning rights thereon;
- (b)the acquisition, development, production or co-production of programme material intended for audiovisual media services or radio media services, that are awarded by audiovisual or radio media service providers, or contracts for broadcasting time or programme provision that are awarded to audiovisual or radio media service providers. For the purposes of this point, ‘audiovisual media services’ and ‘media service providers’ shall, respectively, have the same meaning as pursuant to points (a) and (d) of Article 1(1) of Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council24. ‘Programme’ shall have the same meaning as pursuant to point (b) of Article 1(1) of that Directive, but shall also include radio programmes and radio programme materials. Furthermore, for the purposes of this provision, ‘programme material’ shall have the same meaning as ‘programme’;
- (c)
arbitration and conciliation services;
- (d)
any of the following legal services:
- (i)legal representation of a client by a lawyer within the meaning of Article 1 of Council Directive 77/249/EEC25 in:
an arbitration or conciliation held in a Member State, a third country or before an international arbitration or conciliation instance; or
judicial proceedings before the courts, tribunals or public authorities of a Member State or a third country or before international courts, tribunals or institutions;
- (ii)
legal advice given in preparation of any of the proceedings referred to in point (i) of this point or where there is a tangible indication and high probability that the matter to which the advice relates will become the subject of such proceedings, provided that the advice is given by a lawyer within the meaning of Article 1 of Directive 77/249/EEC;
- (iii)
document certification and authentication services which must be provided by notaries;
- (iv)
legal services provided by trustees or appointed guardians or other legal services the providers of which are designated by a court or tribunal in the Member State concerned or are designated by law to carry out specific tasks under the supervision of such tribunals or courts;
- (v)
other legal services which in the Member State concerned are connected, even occasionally, with the exercise of official authority;
- (i)
- (e)financial services in connection with the issue, sale, purchase or transfer of securities or other financial instruments within the meaning of Directive 2004/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council26, central bank services and operations conducted with the European Financial Stability Facility and the European Stability Mechanism;
- (f)
loans, whether or not in connection with the issue, sale, purchase or transfer of securities or other financial instruments;
- (g)
employment contracts;
- (h)
civil defence, civil protection, and danger prevention services that are provided by non-profit organisations or associations, and which are covered by CPV codes 75250000-3, 75251000-0, 75251100-1, 75251110-4, 75251120-7, 75252000-7, 75222000-8, 98113100-9 and 85143000-3 except patient transport ambulance services;
- (i)
public passenger transport services by rail or metro;
- (j)
political campaign services covered by CPV codes 79341400-0, 92111230-3 and 92111240-6, when awarded by a political party in the context of an election campaign.
Article 11Service contracts awarded on the basis of an exclusive right
This Directive shall not apply to public service contracts awarded by a contracting authority to another contracting authority or to an association of contracting authorities on the basis of an exclusive right which they enjoy pursuant to a law, regulation or published administrative provision which is compatible with the TFEU.
Article 12Public contracts between entities within the public sector
1.
A public contract awarded by a contracting authority to a legal person governed by private or public law shall fall outside the scope of this Directive where all of the following conditions are fulfilled:
(a)
the contracting authority exercises over the legal person concerned a control which is similar to that which it exercises over its own departments;
(b)
more than 80 % of the activities of the controlled legal person are carried out in the performance of tasks entrusted to it by the controlling contracting authority or by other legal persons controlled by that contracting authority; and
(c)
there is no direct private capital participation in the controlled legal person with the exception of non-controlling and non-blocking forms of private capital participation required by national legislative provisions, in conformity with the Treaties, which do not exert a decisive influence on the controlled legal person.
A contracting authority shall be deemed to exercise over a legal person a control similar to that which it exercises over its own departments within the meaning of point (a) of the first subparagraph where it exercises a decisive influence over both strategic objectives and significant decisions of the controlled legal person. Such control may also be exercised by another legal person, which is itself controlled in the same way by the contracting authority.
2.
Paragraph 1 also applies where a controlled legal person which is a contracting authority awards a contract to its controlling contracting authority, or to another legal person controlled by the same contracting authority, provided that there is no direct private capital participation in the legal person being awarded the public contract with the exception of non-controlling and non-blocking forms of private capital participation required by national legislative provisions, in conformity with the Treaties, which do not exert a decisive influence on the controlled legal person.
3.
A contracting authority, which does not exercise over a legal person governed by private or public law control within the meaning of paragraph 1, may nevertheless award a public contract to that legal person without applying this Directive where all of the following conditions are fulfilled.
(a)
the contracting authority exercises jointly with other contracting authorities a control over that legal person which is similar to that which they exercise over their own departments;
(b)
more than 80 % of the activities of that legal person are carried out in the performance of tasks entrusted to it by the controlling contracting authorities or by other legal persons controlled by the same contracting authorities; and
(c)
there is no direct private capital participation in the controlled legal person with the exception of non-controlling and non-blocking forms of private capital participation required by national legislative provisions, in conformity with the Treaties, which do not exert a decisive influence on the controlled legal person.
For the purposes of point (a) of the first subparagraph, contracting authorities exercise joint control over a legal person where all of the following conditions are fulfilled:
- (i)
the decision-making bodies of the controlled legal person are composed of representatives of all participating contracting authorities. Individual representatives may represent several or all of the participating contracting authorities;
- (ii)
those contracting authorities are able to jointly exert decisive influence over the strategic objectives and significant decisions of the controlled legal person; and
- (iii)
the controlled legal person does not pursue any interests which are contrary to those of the controlling contracting authorities.
4.
A contract concluded exclusively between two or more contracting authorities shall fall outside the scope of this Directive where all of the following conditions are fulfilled:
(a)
the contract establishes or implements a cooperation between the participating contracting authorities with the aim of ensuring that public services they have to perform are provided with a view to achieving objectives they have in common;
(b)
the implementation of that cooperation is governed solely by considerations relating to the public interest; and
(c)
the participating contracting authorities perform on the open market less than 20 % of the activities concerned by the cooperation.
5.
For the determination of the percentage of activities referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, point (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 and point (c) of paragraph 4, the average total turnover, or an appropriate alternative activity-based measure such as costs incurred by the relevant legal person or contracting authority with respect to services, supplies and works for the three years preceding the contract award shall be taken into consideration.
Where, because of the date on which the relevant legal person or contracting authority was created or commenced activities or because of a reorganisation of its activities, the turnover, or alternative activity based measure such as costs, are either not available for the preceding three years or no longer relevant, it shall be sufficient to show that the measurement of activity is credible, particularly by means of business projections.
Article 13Contracts subsidised by contracting authorities
This Directive shall apply to the awarding of the following contracts:
- (a)
works contracts which are subsidised directly by contracting authorities by more than 50 % and the estimated value of which, net of VAT, is equal to or greater than F1EUR 5 350 000, where those contracts involve one of the following activities:
- (i)
civil engineering activities as listed in Annex II,
- (ii)
building work for hospitals, facilities intended for sports, recreation and leisure, school and university buildings and buildings used for administrative purposes;
- (i)
- (b)
service contracts which are subsidised directly by contracting authorities by more than 50 % and the estimated value of which, net of VAT, is equal to or greater than F1EUR 214 000 and which are connected to a works contract as referred to in point (a).
The contracting authorities providing the subsidies referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph shall ensure compliance with this Directive where they do not themselves award the subsidised contract or where they award that contract for and on behalf of other entities.
Article 14Research and development services
This Directive shall only apply to public service contracts for research and development services which are covered by CPV codes 73000000-2 to 73120000-9, 73300000-5, 73420000-2 and 73430000-5 provided that both of the following conditions are fulfilled:
- (a)
the benefits accrue exclusively to the contracting authority for its use in the conduct of its own affairs, and
- (b)
the service provided is wholly remunerated by the contracting authority.
Article 15Defence and security
1.
This Directive shall apply to the awarding of public contracts and to design contests organised in the fields of defence and security, with the exception of the following contracts:
(a)
contracts falling within the scope of Directive 2009/81/EC;
(b)
contracts to which Directive 2009/81/EC does not apply pursuant to Articles 8, 12 and 13 thereof.
2.
This Directive shall not apply to public contracts and design contests not otherwise exempted under paragraph 1, to the extent that the protection of the essential security interests of a Member State cannot be guaranteed by less intrusive measures, for instance by imposing requirements aimed at protecting the confidential nature of information which the contracting authority makes available in a contract award procedure as provided for in this Directive.
Furthermore, and in conformity with point (a) of Article 346(1) TFEU, this Directive shall not apply to public contracts and design contests not otherwise exempted under paragraph 1 of this Article to the extent that the application of this Directive would oblige a Member State to supply information the disclosure of which it considers contrary to the essential interests of its security.
3.
Where the procurement and performance of the public contract or design contest are declared to be secret or must be accompanied by special security measures in accordance with the laws, regulations or administrative provisions in force in a Member State, this Directive shall not apply provided that the Member State has determined that the essential interests concerned cannot be guaranteed by less intrusive measures, such as those referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 2.
Article 16Mixed procurement involving defence or security aspects
1.
In the case of mixed contracts which have as their subject-matter procurement covered by this Directive as well as procurement covered by Article 346 TFEU or Directive 2009/81/EC, this Article shall apply.
2.
Where the different parts of a given public contract are objectively separable, contracting authorities may choose to award separate contracts for the separate parts or to award a single contract.
Where contracting authorities choose to award separate contracts for separate parts, the decision of which legal regime applies to any one of such separate contracts shall be taken on the basis of the characteristics of the separate part concerned.
Where contracting authorities choose to award a single contract, the following criteria shall apply to determine the applicable legal regime:
(a)
where part of a given contract is covered by Article 346 TFEU, the contract may be awarded without applying this Directive, provided that the award of a single contract is justified for objective reasons;
(b)
where part of a given contract is covered by Directive 2009/81/EC, the contract may be awarded in accordance with that Directive, provided that the award of a single contract is justified for objective reasons. This point shall be without prejudice to the thresholds and exclusions for which that Directive provides.
The decision to award a single contract shall not, however, be taken for the purpose of excluding contracts from the application of either this Directive or Directive 2009/81/EC.
3.
Point (a) of the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 shall apply to mixed contracts to which both point (a) and point (b) of that subparagraph could otherwise apply.
4.
Where the different parts of a given contract are objectively not separable, the contract may be awarded without applying this Directive where it includes elements to which Article 346 TFEU applies; otherwise it may be awarded in accordance with Directive 2009/81/EC.
Article 17Public contracts and design contests involving defence or security aspects which are awarded or organised pursuant to international rules
1.
This Directive shall not apply to public contracts and design contests involving defence or security aspects which the contracting authority is obliged to award or organise in accordance with procurement procedures different from those laid down in this Directive established by any of the following:
(a)
an international agreement or arrangement, concluded in conformity with the Treaties, between a Member State and one or more third countries or subdivisions thereof and covering works, supplies or services intended for the joint implementation or exploitation of a project by their signatories;
(b)
an international agreement or arrangement relating to the stationing of troops and concerning the undertakings of a Member State or a third country;
(c)
an international organisation.
All agreements or arrangements referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be communicated to the Commission, which may consult the Advisory Committee on Public Procurement referred to in Article 89.
2.
This Directive shall not apply to public contracts and design contests involving defence or security aspects which the contracting authority awards in accordance with procurement rules provided by an international organisation or international financing institution, where the public contracts and design contests concerned are fully financed by this organisation or institution. In the case of public contracts and design contests co-financed for the most part by an international organisation or international financing institution the parties shall agree on applicable procurement procedures.
CHAPTER II General rules
Article 18Principles of procurement
1.
Contracting authorities shall treat economic operators equally and without discrimination and shall act in a transparent and proportionate manner.
The design of the procurement shall not be made with the intention of excluding it from the scope of this Directive or of artificially narrowing competition. Competition shall be considered to be artificially narrowed where the design of the procurement is made with the intention of unduly favouring or disadvantaging certain economic operators.
2.
Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that in the performance of public contracts economic operators comply with applicable obligations in the fields of environmental, social and labour law established by Union law, national law, collective agreements or by the international environmental, social and labour law provisions listed in Annex X.
Article 19Economic operators
1.
Economic operators that, under the law of the Member State in which they are established, are entitled to provide the relevant service, shall not be rejected solely on the ground that, under the law of the Member State in which the contract is awarded, they would be required to be either natural or legal persons.
However, in the case of public service and public works contracts as well as public supply contracts covering in addition services or siting and installation operations, legal persons may be required to indicate, in the tender or the request to participate, the names and relevant professional qualifications of the staff to be responsible for the performance of the contract in question.
2.
Groups of economic operators, including temporary associations, may participate in procurement procedures. They shall not be required by contracting authorities to have a specific legal form in order to submit a tender or a request to participate.
Where necessary, contracting authorities may clarify in the procurement documents how groups of economic operators are to meet the requirements as to economic and financial standing or technical and professional ability referred to in Article 58 provided that this is justified by objective reasons and is proportionate. Member States may establish standard terms for how groups of economic operators are to meet those requirements.
Any conditions for the performance of a contract by such groups of economic operators, which are different from those imposed on individual participants, shall also be justified by objective reasons and shall be proportionate.
3.
Notwithstanding paragraph 2, contracting authorities may require groups of economic operators to assume a specific legal form once they have been awarded the contract, to the extent that such a change is necessary for the satisfactory performance of the contract.
Article 20Reserved contracts
1.
Member States may reserve the right to participate in public procurement procedures to sheltered workshops and economic operators whose main aim is the social and professional integration of disabled or disadvantaged persons or may provide for such contracts to be performed in the context of sheltered employment programmes, provided that at least 30 % of the employees of those workshops, economic operators or programmes are disabled or disadvantaged workers.
2.
The call for competition shall make reference to this Article.
Article 21Confidentiality
1.
Unless otherwise provided in this Directive or in the national law to which the contracting authority is subject, in particular legislation concerning access to information, and without prejudice to the obligations relating to the advertising of awarded contracts and to the information to candidates and tenderers set out in Articles 50 and 55, the contracting authority shall not disclose information forwarded to it by economic operators which they have designated as confidential, including, but not limited to, technical or trade secrets and the confidential aspects of tenders.
2.
Contracting authorities may impose on economic operators requirements aimed at protecting the confidential nature of information which the contracting authorities make available throughout the procurement procedure.
Article 22Rules applicable to communication
1.
Member States shall ensure that all communication and information exchange under this Directive, in particular electronic submission, are performed using electronic means of communication in accordance with the requirements of this Article. The tools and devices to be used for communicating by electronic means, as well as their technical characteristics, shall be non-discriminatory, generally available and interoperable with the ICT products in general use and shall not restrict economic operators’ access to the procurement procedure.
Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, contracting authorities shall not be obliged to require electronic means of communication in the submission process in the following situations:
(a)
due to the specialised nature of the procurement, the use of electronic means of communication would require specific tools, devices or file formats that are not generally available or supported by generally available applications;
(b)
the applications supporting file formats that are suitable for the description of the tenders use file formats that cannot be handled by any other open or generally available applications or are under a proprietary licensing scheme and cannot be made available for downloading or remote use by the contracting authority;
(c)
the use of electronic means of communication would require specialised office equipment that is not generally available to contracting authorities;
(d)
the procurement documents require the submission of physical or scale models which cannot be transmitted using electronic means.
In respect of communications for which electronic means of communication are not used pursuant to the second subparagraph, communication shall be carried out by post or other suitable carrier or by a combination of post or other suitable carrier and electronic means.
Notwithstanding the first subparagraph of this paragraph, contracting authorities are not obliged to require electronic means of communication in the submission process to the extent that the use of means of communication other than electronic means is necessary either because of a breach of security of the electronic means of communications or for the protection of the particularly sensitive nature of information requiring such a high level of protection that it cannot be properly ensured by using electronic tools and devices that are either generally available to economic operators or can be made available to them by alternative means of access within the meaning of paragraph 5.
It shall be the responsibility of the contracting authorities requiring, in accordance with the second subparagraph of this paragraph, means of communication other than electronic means in the submission process to indicate in the individual report referred to in Article 84 the reasons for this requirement. Where applicable, contracting authorities shall indicate in the individual report the reasons why use of means of communication other than electronic means has been considered necessary in application of the fourth subparagraph of this paragraph.
2.
Notwithstanding paragraph 1, oral communication may be used in respect of communications other than those concerning the essential elements of a procurement procedure, provided that the content of the oral communication is documented to a sufficient degree. For this purpose, the essential elements of a procurement procedure include the procurement documents, requests for participation, confirmations of interest and tenders. In particular, oral communications with tenderers which could have a substantial impact on the content and assessment of the tenders shall be documented to a sufficient extent and by appropriate means, such as written or audio records or summaries of the main elements of the communication.
3.
In all communication, exchange and storage of information, contracting authorities shall ensure that the integrity of data and the confidentiality of tenders and requests to participate are preserved. They shall examine the content of tenders and requests to participate only after the time limit set for submitting them has expired.
4.
For public works contracts and design contests, Member States may require the use of specific electronic tools, such as of building information electronic modelling tools or similar. In such cases the contracting authorities shall offer alternative means of access, as provided for in paragraph 5, until such time as those tools become generally available within the meaning of the second sentence of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1.
5.
Contracting authorities may, where necessary, require the use of tools and devices which are not generally available, provided that the contracting authorities offer alternative means of access.
Contracting authorities shall be deemed to offer suitable alternative means of access in any of the following situations, where they:
(a)
offer unrestricted and full direct access free of charge by electronic means to those tools and devices from the date of publication of the notice in accordance with Annex VIII or from the date when the invitation to confirm interest is sent. The text of the notice or the invitation to confirm interest shall specify the internet address at which those tools and devices are accessible;
(b)
ensure that tenderers having no access to the tools and devices concerned, or no possibility of obtaining them within the relevant time limits, provided that the lack of access is not attributable to the tenderer concerned, may access the procurement procedure through the use of provisional tokens made available free of charge online; or
(c)
support an alternative channel for electronic submission of tenders.
6.
In addition to the requirements set out in Annex IV, the following rules shall apply to tools and devices for the electronic transmission and receipt of tenders and for the electronic receipt of requests to participate:
(a)
information on specifications for the electronic submission of tenders and requests to participate, including encryption and time-stamping, shall be available to interested parties;
(b)
Member States, or contracting authorities acting within an overall framework established by the Member State concerned, shall specify the level of security required for the electronic means of communication in the various stages of the specific procurement procedure; that level shall be proportionate to the risks attached;
(c)
- (i)the contracting authorities shall establish the required advanced signature format on the basis of formats established in Commission Decision 2011/130/EU29 and shall put in place necessary measures to be able to process these formats technically; in case a different format of electronic signature is used, the electronic signature or the electronic document carrier shall include information on existing validation possibilities, which shall be under the responsibility of the Member State. The validation possibilities shall allow the contracting authority to validate online, free of charge and in a way that is understandable for non-native speakers, the received electronic signature as an advanced electronic signature supported by a qualified certificate.
Member States shall notify information on the provider of validation services to the Commission, which shall make the information received from the Member States available to the public on the Internet;
- (ii)
where a tender is signed with the support of a qualified certificate that is included on a trusted list, the contracting authorities shall not apply additional requirements that may hinder the use of those signatures by tenderers.
In respect of documents used in the context of a procurement procedure that are signed by a competent authority of a Member State or by another issuing entity, the competent issuing authority or entity may establish the required advanced signature format in accordance with the requirements set out in Article 1(2) of Decision 2011/130/EU. They shall put in place the necessary measures to be able to process that format technically by including the information required for the purpose of processing the signature in the document concerned. Such documents shall contain in the electronic signature or in the electronic document carrier information on existing validation possibilities that allow the validation of the received electronic signature online, free of charge and in a way that is understandable for non-native speakers.
7.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 87 to amend the technical details and characteristics set out in Annex IV to take account of technical developments.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 87 to amend the list set out in points (a) to (d) of the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article where technological developments render continued exceptions from the use of electronic means of communication inappropriate or, exceptionally, where new exceptions must be provided for because of technological developments.
To ensure the interoperability of technical formats as well as of process and messaging standards, especially in a cross-border context, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 87 to establish the mandatory use of such specific technical standards, in particular with regard to the use of electronic submission, electronic catalogues and means for electronic authentication, only where technical standards have been thoroughly tested and proved their usefulness in practice. Before making the use of any technical standard mandatory, the Commission shall also carefully consider the costs that this may entail, in particular in terms of adaptations to existing e-procurement solutions, including infrastructure, processes or software.
Article 23Nomenclatures
1.
Any references to nomenclatures in the context of public procurement shall be made using the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) as adopted by Regulation (EC) No 2195/2002.
2.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 87 to adapt the CPV codes referred to in this Directive, whenever changes in the CPV nomenclature must be reflected in this Directive and they do not imply a modification of the scope of this Directive.
Article 24Conflicts of interest
Member States shall ensure that contracting authorities take appropriate measures to effectively prevent, identify and remedy conflicts of interest arising in the conduct of procurement procedures so as to avoid any distortion of competition and to ensure equal treatment of all economic operators.
The concept of conflicts of interest shall at least cover any situation where staff members of the contracting authority or of a procurement service provider acting on behalf of the contracting authority who are involved in the conduct of the procurement procedure or may influence the outcome of that procedure have, directly or indirectly, a financial, economic or other personal interest which might be perceived to compromise their impartiality and independence in the context of the procurement procedure.