Procurement for Buyers: a new online tool to help public procurers

In recent years, multiple pieces of European legislation (known as ‘sectoral files’) have been published which have the potential to impact public procurement procedures in some sectors. To help public sector buyers understand if a competition is subject to legal provisions arising from newly introduced legislation the European Commission recently updated a freely accessible information portal called Access to Markets.

Access to Markets now contains a dedicated portal for information on public procurement. By clicking the Procurement for Buyers button under the Procurement tab, you can identify which pieces of legislation you may need to account for in your procurement. The legislation sits alongside the directives governing public procurement generally including in utilities, defence and concessions. In addition, the platform generates a list of countries allowed or prohibited from bidding on your competition. Prohibited countries are typically those subject to EU sanctions or other legislation that limits access of certain countries to the EU’s public procurement market.

The platform requests certain high-level information to aid the response generated. You must select your contracting authority/entity, the type of goods, services or works to be procured, the indicative value of your procurement (above or below EU thresholds) and potentially answer some additional questions depending on the nature of your procurement. Please note that the contracting authorities/entities listed on the platform align with the 2014 Directives and may be no longer correct. You can choose the closest equivalent to your department or select ‘The entity I am looking for is not listed’ when prompted.

For more information on Procurement for Buyers click here.