Article 1

Article 2

For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply:

Article 3

Article 4

A dominant influence on the part of the contracting authorities shall be presumed in any of the following cases in which those authorities, directly or indirectly:

Rights which have been granted by means of a procedure in which adequate publicity has been ensured and where the granting of those rights was based on objective criteria shall not constitute special or exclusive rights within the meaning of the first subparagraph.

Such procedures include:

Article 5

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.

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.

Where part of a given contract is covered by Article 346 TFEU or Directive 2009/81/EC Article 25 of this Directive shall apply.

Where contracting entities choose to award a single contract, this Directive shall, unless otherwise provided in Article 25, 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 16, is equal to or greater than the relevant threshold set out in Article 15.

Article 6

Notwithstanding Article 5, where contracting entities choose to award a single contract, paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article shall apply. However, where one of the activities concerned is covered by Article 346 TFEU or Directive 2009/81/EC, Article 26 of this Directive shall apply.

The choice between awarding a single contract or awarding a number of separate contracts shall not, however, be made with the objective of excluding the contract or contracts from the scope of application either of this Directive or, where applicable, Directive 2014/24/EU or Directive 2014/23/EU.

Article 7

For the purposes of Articles 8, 9 and 10, ‘supply’ shall include generation/production, wholesale and retail sale.

However, production of gas in the form of extraction falls within the scope of Article 14.

Article 8

Article 9

Article 10

Article 11

This Directive shall apply to activities relating to the provision or operation of networks providing a service to the public in the field of transport by railway, automated systems, tramway, trolley bus, bus or cable.

As regards transport services, a network shall be considered to exist where the service is provided under operating conditions laid down by a competent authority of a Member State, such as conditions on the routes to be served, the capacity to be made available or the frequency of the service.

Article 12

This Directive shall apply to activities relating to the exploitation of a geographical area for the purpose of the provision of airports and maritime or inland ports or other terminal facilities to carriers by air, sea or inland waterway.

Article 13

Article 14

This Directive shall apply to activities relating to the exploitation of a geographical area for the purpose of:

Article 36

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.

Article 37

However, in the case of service and works contracts as well as 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 responsible for the performance of the contract in question.

Where necessary, contracting entities may clarify in the procurement documents how groups of economic operators are to meet the criteria and requirements for qualification and qualitative selection referred to in Articles 77 to 81 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.

Article 38

Article 39

Article 40

Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, contracting entities shall not be obliged to require electronic means of communication in the submission process in the following situations:

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 entities 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 entities 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 100 the reasons for this requirement. Where applicable, contracting entities 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.

Contracting entities shall be deemed to offer suitable alternative means of access in any of the following situations, where they:

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.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 103 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 103 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 41

Article 42

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.

Article 43

In so far as they are covered by Annexes 3, 4 and 5 and the General Notes to the European Union’s Appendix I to the GPA and by the other international agreements by which the Union is bound, contracting entities within the meaning of Article 4(1)(a) shall accord to the works, supplies, services and economic operators of the signatories to those agreements treatment no less favourable than the treatment accorded to the works, supplies, services and economic operators of the Union.

Article 44

In the case referred to in point (a) of this paragraph, economic operators having expressed their interest following the publication of the periodic indicative notice shall subsequently be invited to confirm their interest in writing by means of an invitation to confirm interest in conformity with Article 74.

Article 45

The minimum time limit for the receipt of tenders shall be 35 days from the date on which the contract notice was sent.

The tender shall be accompanied by the information for qualitative selection that is requested by the contracting entity.

Article 46

The minimum time limit for the receipt of requests to participate shall, as a general rule, be fixed at no less than 30 days from the date on which the contract notice or the invitation to confirm interest was sent and shall in any event not be less than 15 days.

The time limit for the receipt of tenders may be set by mutual agreement between the contracting entity and the selected candidates, provided that all selected candidates have the same time to prepare and submit their tenders.

In the absence of agreement on the time limit for the receipt of tenders, the time limit shall be at least 10 days from the date on which the invitation to tender was sent.

Article 47

The minimum time limit for the receipt of requests to participate shall, as a general rule, be fixed at no less than 30 days from the date on which the contract notice or, where a periodic indicative notice is used as a means of calling for competition, the invitation to confirm interest was sent and shall in any event not be less than 15 days.

The time limit for the receipt of tenders may be set by mutual agreement between the contracting entity and the selected candidates, provided that they all have the same time to prepare and submit their tenders.

In the absence of agreement on the time limit for the receipt of tenders, the time limit shall be at least 10 days from the date on which the invitation to tender was sent.

Article 48

The minimum time limit for receipt of requests to participate shall, as a general rule, be fixed at no less than 30 days from the date on which the contract notice or, where a periodic indicative notice is used as a means of calling for competition, the invitation to confirm interest was sent and shall in any event not be less than 15 days.

Only those economic operators invited by the contracting entity following the assessment of the information provided may participate in the dialogue. Contracting entities may limit the number of suitable candidates to be invited to participate in the procedure in accordance with Article 78(2). The contract shall be awarded on the sole basis of the award criterion of the tender presenting the best price-quality ratio in accordance with Article 82(2).

During the dialogue, contracting entities shall ensure equality of treatment among all participants. To that end, they shall not provide information in a discriminatory manner which may give some participants an advantage over others.

In accordance with Article 39, contracting entities shall not reveal to the other participants solutions proposed or other confidential information communicated by a participating candidate or tenderer in the dialogue without its agreement. Such agreement shall not take the form of a general waiver but shall be given with reference to the intended communication of specific information.

Those tenders may be clarified, specified and optimised at the request of the contracting entity. However, such clarification, specification, optimisation or additional information may not involve changes to the essential aspects of the tender or of the procurement, including the needs and requirements set out in the call for competition or in the descriptive document, where variations to those aspects, needs and requirements are likely to distort competition or have a discriminatory effect.

At the request of the contracting entity, negotiations with the tenderer identified as having submitted the tender presenting the best price-quality ratio in accordance with Article 82(2) may be carried out to confirm financial commitments or other terms contained in the tender by finalising the terms of the contract provided such negotiations do not have the effect of materially modifying essential aspects of the tender or of the procurement, including the needs and requirements set out in the call for competition or in the descriptive document and does not risk distorting competition or causing discrimination.

Article 49

In the procurement documents, the contracting entity shall identify the need for an innovative product, service or works that cannot be met by purchasing products, services or works already available on the market. It shall indicate which elements of this description define the minimum requirements to be met by all tenders. The indications shall be sufficiently precise to enable economic operators to identify the nature and scope of the required solution and decide whether to request to participate in the procedure.

The contracting entity may decide to set up the innovation partnership with one partner or with several partners conducting separate research and development activities.

The minimum time limit for receipt of requests to participate shall, as a general rule, be fixed at no less than 30 days from the date on which the contract notice is sent and shall in any event not be less than 15 days. Only those economic operators invited by the contracting entity following the assessment of the information provided may participate in the procedure. Contracting entities may limit the number of suitable candidates to be invited to participate in the procedure in accordance with Article 78(2).The contracts shall be awarded on the sole basis of the award criterion of the tender presenting the best price-quality ratio in accordance with Article 82(2).

The innovation partnership shall be structured in successive phases following the sequence of steps in the research and innovation process, which may include the manufacturing of the products, the provision of the services or the completion of the works. The innovation partnership shall set intermediate targets to be attained by the partners and provide for payment of the remuneration in appropriate instalments.

Based on those targets, the contracting entity may decide after each phase to terminate the innovation partnership or, in the case of an innovation partnership with several partners, to reduce the number of partners by terminating individual contracts, provided that the contracting entity has indicated in the procurement documents those possibilities and the conditions for their use.

The minimum requirements and the award criteria shall not be subject to negotiations.

In accordance with Article 39, contracting entities shall not reveal to the other participants confidential information communicated by a candidate or tenderer participating in the negotiations without its agreement. Such agreement shall not take the form of a general waiver but shall be given with reference to the intended communication of specific information.

Only those economic operators invited by the contracting entity following its assessment of the requested information may submit research and innovation projects aimed at meeting the needs identified by the contracting entity that cannot be met by existing solutions.

In the procurement documents, the contracting entity shall define the arrangements applicable to intellectual property rights. In the case of an innovation partnership with several partners, the contracting entity shall not, in accordance with Article 39, reveal to the other partners solutions proposed or other confidential information communicated by a partner in the framework of the partnership without that partner’s agreement. Such agreement shall not take the form of a general waiver but shall be given with reference to the intended communication of specific information.

Article 50

Contracting entities may use a negotiated procedure without prior call for competition in the following cases:

Article 51

A framework agreement means an agreement between one or more contracting entities and one or more economic operators, the purpose of which is to establish the terms governing contracts to be awarded during a given period, in particular with regard to price and, where appropriate, the quantities envisaged.

The term of a framework agreement shall not exceed eight years, save in exceptional cases duly justified, in particular by the subject of the framework agreement.

The objective rules and criteria referred to in the first subparagraph shall ensure equal treatment of the economic operators who are parties to the agreement. Where a reopening the competition is included, contracting entities shall set a time limit which is sufficiently long to allow tenders for each specific contract to be submitted and contracting entities shall award each contract to the tenderer that has submitted the best tender on the basis of the award criteria set out in the specifications of the framework agreement.

Contracting entities shall not use framework agreements improperly or in such a way as to prevent, restrict or distort competition.

Article 52

Notwithstanding Article 46, the following time limits shall apply:

Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, as long as the invitation to tender for the first specific procurement under the dynamic purchasing system has not been sent, contracting entities may extend the evaluation period provided that no invitation to tender is issued during the extended evaluation period. Contracting entities shall indicate in the procurement documents the length of the extended period that they intend to apply.

Contracting entities shall inform the economic operator concerned at the earliest possible opportunity of whether or not it has been admitted to the dynamic purchasing system.

They shall award the contract to the tenderer that submitted the best tender on the basis of the award criteria set out in the contract notice for the dynamic purchasing system, in the invitation to confirm interest, or, where the means of calling for competition is a notice on the existence of a qualification system, in the invitation to tender. Those criteria may, where appropriate, be formulated more precisely in the invitation to tender.

Paragraphs 2 to 4 of Article 59 shall apply throughout the entire period of validity of the dynamic purchasing system.

Article 53

For this purpose, contracting entities shall structure the electronic auction as a repetitive electronic process, which occurs after an initial full evaluation of the tenders, enabling them to be ranked using automatic evaluation methods.

Certain service contracts and certain works contracts having as their subject-matter intellectual performances, such as the design of works, which cannot be ranked using automatic evaluation methods, shall not be the object of electronic auctions.

In the same circumstances, an electronic auction may be held on the reopening of competition among the parties to a framework agreement as provided for in Article 51(2) and on the opening for competition of contracts to be awarded under the dynamic purchasing system referred to in Article 52.

A tender shall be considered admissible where it has been submitted by a tenderer, who has not been excluded pursuant to Article 78(1) or 80(1) and who meets the selection criteria laid down pursuant to Articles 78 and 80, and whose tender is in conformity with the technical specifications without being irregular or unacceptable or unsuitable.

In particular, tenders which do not comply with the procurement documents, which were received late, where there is evidence of collusion or corruption, or which have been found by the contracting authority to be abnormally low, shall be considered as being irregular. In particular tenders submitted by tenderers that do not have the required qualifications, and tenders whose price exceeds the contracting authority’s budget as determined and documented prior to the launching of the procurement procedure shall be considered as unacceptable.

A tender shall be considered not to be suitable where it is irrelevant to the contract, being manifestly incapable, without substantial changes, of meeting the contracting entity’s needs and requirements as specified in the procurement documents. A request for participation shall be considered not to be suitable where the economic operator concerned is to be or may be excluded pursuant to Articles 78(1) or 80(1), or does not meet the selection criteria laid down by the contracting entity pursuant to Articles 78 or 80.

All tenderers that have submitted admissible tenders shall be invited simultaneously by electronic means to participate in the electronic auction using, as of the specified date and time, the connections in accordance with the instructions set out in the invitation. The electronic auction may take place in a number of successive phases. The electronic auction shall not start sooner than two working days after the date on which invitations are sent out.

The invitation shall also state the mathematical formula to be used in the electronic auction to determine automatic re-rankings on the basis of the new prices and/or new values submitted. Except where the most economically advantageous offer is identified on the basis of price alone, that formula shall incorporate the weighting of all the criteria established to determine the most economically advantageous tender, as indicated in the notice used as a means of calling for competition or in other procurement documents. For that purpose, any ranges shall, however, be reduced beforehand to a specified value.

Where variants are authorised, a separate formula shall be provided for each variant.

Where the contracting entities intend to close an electronic auction in accordance with point (c) of the first subparagraph, possibly in combination with the arrangements laid down in point (b) thereof, the invitation to take part in the auction shall indicate the timetable for each phase of the auction.

Article 54

Member States may render the use of electronic catalogues mandatory in connection with certain types of procurement.

Tenders presented in the form of an electronic catalogue may be accompanied by other documents, completing the tender.

Furthermore, electronic catalogues shall comply with the requirements for electronic communication tools as well as with any additional requirements set by the contracting entity in accordance with Article 40.

Contracting entities shall allow for an adequate period between the notification and the actual collection of information.

Before awarding the contract, contracting entities shall present the collected information to the tenderer concerned so as to give it the opportunity to contest or confirm that the tender thus constituted does not contain any material errors.

Contracting entities may also award contracts based on a dynamic purchasing system in accordance with point (b) of paragraph 4 and paragraph 5 provided that the request for participation in the dynamic purchasing system is accompanied by an electronic catalogue in accordance with the technical specifications and format established by the contracting entity. That catalogue shall be completed subsequently by the candidates, when they are informed of the contracting entity’s intention to constitute tenders by means of the procedure set out in point (b) of paragraph 4.

Article 55

▼C1

▼B

Member States may also provide that contracting entities may acquire works, supplies and services by using contracts awarded by a central purchasing body, by using dynamic purchasing systems operated by a central purchasing body or by using a framework agreement concluded by a central purchasing body offering the centralised purchasing activity referred to in point (b) of point (10) of Article 2. Where a dynamic purchasing system which is operated by a central purchasing body may be used by other contracting entities, this shall be mentioned in the call for competition setting up that dynamic purchasing system.

In relation to the first and second subparagraphs, Member States may provide that certain procurements are to be made by having recourse to central purchasing bodies or to one or more specific central purchasing bodies.

Furthermore, a contracting entity also fulfils its obligations pursuant to this Directive where it acquires works, supplies or services by using contracts awarded by the central purchasing body, by using dynamic purchasing systems operated by the central purchasing body or by using a framework agreement concluded by the central purchasing body offering the centralised purchasing activity referred to in point (b) of point (10) of Article 2.

However, the contracting entity concerned shall be responsible for fulfilling the obligations pursuant to this Directive in respect of the parts it conducts itself, such as:

Such service contracts may also include the provision of ancillary purchasing activities.

Article 56

Where the conduct of a procurement procedure is not in its entirety carried out in the name and on behalf of the contracting entities concerned, they shall be jointly responsible only for those parts carried out jointly. Each contracting entity shall have sole responsibility for fulfilling its obligations pursuant to this Directive in respect of the parts it conducts in its own name and on its own behalf.

Article 57

Contracting entities shall not use the means provided in this Article for the purpose of avoiding the application of mandatory public law provisions in conformity with Union law to which they are subject in their Member State.

In respect of centralised purchasing activities offered by a central purchasing body located in another Member State than the contracting entity, Member States may, however, choose to specify that their contracting entities may only use the centralised purchasing activities as defined in either point (a) or in point (b) of point (10) of Article 2.

The national provisions of the Member State where the central purchasing body is located shall also apply to the following:

A participating contracting entity fulfils its obligations pursuant to this Directive when it purchases works, supplies or services from a contracting entity which is responsible for the procurement procedure. When determining responsibilities and the applicable national law as referred to in point (a), the participating contracting entities may allocate specific responsibilities among them and determine the applicable provisions of the national laws of any of their respective Member States. The allocation of responsibilities and the applicable national law shall be referred to in the procurement documents for jointly awarded contracts.

The agreement referred to in the first subparagraph may either apply for an undetermined period, when fixed in the constitutive act of the joint entity, or may be limited to a certain period of time, certain types of contracts or to one or more individual contract awards.

Article 87

Contracting entities may lay down special conditions relating to the performance of a contract, provided that they are linked to the subject-matter of the contract within the meaning of Article 82(3) and indicated in the call for competition or in the procurement documents. Those conditions may include economic, innovation-related, environmental, social or employment-related considerations.

Article 88

Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, Member States may impose the obligation to deliver the required information directly on the main contractor.

Where necessary for the purposes of point (b) of paragraph 6 of this Article, the required information shall be accompanied by the subcontractors’ self-declarations as referred to in Article 80(3). The implementing measures pursuant to paragraph 8 of this Article may provide that subcontractors which are presented after the award of the contract shall provide the certificates and other supporting documents instead of the self-declaration.

The first subparagraph shall not apply to suppliers.

Contracting entities may extend or may be required by Member States to extend the obligations provided for in the first subparagraph to for instance:

Article 89

Contracting entities having modified a contract in the cases set out under points (b) and (c) of this paragraph shall publish a notice to that effect in the Official Journal of the European Union. Such notice shall contain the information set out in Annex XVI and shall be published in accordance with Article 71.

However, the modification may not alter the overall nature of the contract or framework agreement. Where several successive modifications are made, the value shall be assessed on the basis of the net cumulative value of the successive modifications.

Article 90

Member States shall ensure that contracting entities have the possibility, at least under the following circumstances and under the conditions determined by the applicable national law, to terminate a works, supply or service contract during its term, where:

Article 91

Contracts for social and other specific services, listed in Annex XVII shall be awarded in accordance with this Chapter where the value of the contracts is equal to or greater than the threshold indicated in point (c) Article 15.

Article 92

The first subparagraph shall, however, not apply where a negotiated procedure without prior call for competition could have been used in conformity with Article 50 for the award of a service contract.

Article 93

Article 94

Article 95

Article 96

Where they intend to award a subsequent service contract pursuant to point (j) of Article 50, this shall be indicated in the design contest notice.

Contracting entities that have held a design contest shall make the results known by means of a notice.

The notice of the results of a design contest shall be forwarded to the Publication Office of the European Union within 30 days of the closure of the design contest.

Where the release of information on the outcome of the contest would impede law enforcement, would be contrary to the public interest or would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of a particular economic operator, whether public or private, or might prejudice fair competition between economic operators, such information may be withheld from publication.

Article 97

Article 98