EU Public Procurement Directive contents overview

The EU Public Procurement Directive 2004/18/EC is long and complex enough to merit a Table of Contents, which offers an overview of the matter and it makes it easier to find the relevant provisions.

The Procurement Directive entered into force on publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, and the member states had the obligation to transpose the Directive into national law on 31 January 2006, at the latest.

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Directives

Article 249 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) describes the legal act called Directive:
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A directive shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods.

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The Procurement Directive or Classic Directive contains both mandatory uniform rules, which the member states have to put into effect, and optional rules, but the ‘forms and methods’ are different in the various member states.

This means that there are differences between the national legislations, within the limits of the Directive and ECJ jurisprudence.

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Here is the Table of Contents of the EU Procurement Directive 2004/18/EC:



TABLE OF CONTENTS


TITLE I
Definitions and general principles

Article 1 — Definitions
Article 2 — Principles of awarding contracts
Article 3 — Granting of special or exclusive rights: nondiscrimination clause


TITLE II
Rules on public contracts

CHAPTER I
General provisions

Article 4 — Economic operators
Article 5 — Conditions relating to agreements concluded
within the World Trade Organisation
Article 6 — Confidentiality

CHAPTER I I
Scope

S e c t i o n 1 — T h r e s h o l d s
Article 7 — Threshold amounts for public contracts
Article 8 — Contracts subsidised by more than 50 % by contracting authorities
Article 9 — Methods for calculating the estimated value of public contracts, framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems

S e c t i o n 2 — S p e c i f i c s i t u a t i o n s

Article 10 — Defence procurement
Article 11 — Public contracts and framework agreements awarded by central purchasing bodies

S e c t i o n 3 — E x c l u d e d c o n t r a c t s

Article 12 — Contracts in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors
Article 13 — Specific exclusions in the field of telecommunications
Article 14 — Secret contracts and contracts requiring special security measures
Article 15 — Contracts awarded pursuant to international rules
Article 16 — Specific exclusions
Article 17 — Service concessions
Article 18 — Service contracts awarded on the basis of an exclusive right

S e c t i o n 4 — S p e c i a l a r r a n g eme n t

Article 19 — Reserved contracts

CHAPTER I I I
Arrangements for public service contracts

Article 20 — Service contracts listed in Annex II A
Article 21 — Service contracts listed in Annex II B
Article 22 — Mixed contracts including services listed in Annex II A and services listed in Annex II B

CHAPTER IV
Specific rules governing specifications and contract documents

Article 23 — Technical specifications
Article 24 — Variants
Article 25 — Subcontracting
Article 26 — Conditions for performance of contracts
Article 27 — Obligations relating to taxes, environmental protection, employment protection provisions and working conditions

CHAPTER V
Procedures

Article 28 — Use of open, restricted and negotiated procedures and of competitive dialogue
Article 29 — Competitive dialogue
Article 30 — Cases justifying use of the negotiated procedure with prior publication of a contract notice
Article 31 — Cases justifying use of the negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice
Article 32 — Framework agreements
Article 33 — Dynamic purchasing systems
Article 34 — Public works contracts: particular rules on subsidized housing schemes

CHAPTER VI
Rules on advertising and transparency

Section 1 — Publication of notices

Article 35 — Notices
Article 36 — Form and manner of publication of notices
Article 37 — Non-mandatory publication

Section 2 — Time limits
Article 38 — Time limits for receipt of requests to participate and for receipt of tenders
Article 39 — Open procedures: Specifications, additional documents and information

Section 3 — Information content and means of transmission
Article 40 — Invitations to submit a tender, participate in the dialogue or negotiate
Article 41 — Informing candidates and tenderers

Section 4 — Communication
Article 42 — Rules applicable to communication

Section 5 — Reports

Article 43 — Content of reports

CHAPTER V I I
Conduct of the procedure

S e c t i o n 1 — G e n e r a l p r o v i s i o n s

Article 44 — Verification of the suitability and choice of participants and award of contracts

S e c t i o n 2 — C r i t e r i a f o r q u a l i t a t i v e s e l e c t i o n

Article 45 — Personal situation of the candidate or tenderer
Article 46 — Suitability to pursue the professional activity
Article 47 — Economic and financial standing
Article 48 — Technical and/or professional ability
Article 49 — Quality assurance standards
Article 50 — Environmental management standards
Article 51 — Additional documentation and information
Article 52 — Official lists of approved economic operators and certification by bodies established under public or private law

S e c t i o n 3 — A w a r d o f t h e c o n t r a c t

Article 53 — Contract award criteria
Article 54 — Use of electronic auctions
Article 55 — Abnormally low tenders


TITLE III
Rules on public works concessions

CHAPTER I
Rules governing public works concessions

Article 56 — Scope
Article 57 — Exclusions from the scope
Article 58 — Publication of the notice concerning public works concessions
Article 59 — Time limit
Article 60 — Subcontracting
Article 61 — Awarding of additional works to the concessionaire

CHAPTER II
Rules on contracts awarded by concessionaires which are contracting authorities

Article 62 — Applicable rules

CHAPTER III
Rules applicable to contracts awarded by concessionaires which are not contracting authorities

Article 63 — Advertising rules: threshold and exceptions
Article 64 — Publication of the notice
Article 65 — Time limit for the receipt of requests to participate and receipt of tenders


TITLE IV
Rules governing design contests

Article 66 — General provisions
Article 67 — Scope
Article 68 — Exclusions from the scope
Article 69 — Notices
Article 70 — Form and manner of publication of notices of contests
Article 71 — Means of communication
Article 72 — Selection of competitors
Article 73 — Composition of the jury
Article 74 — Decisions of the jury


TITLE V
Statistical obligations, executory powers and final provisions

Article 75 — Statistical obligations
Article 76 — Content of statistical report
Article 77 — Advisory Committee
Article 78 — Revision of the thresholds
Article 79 — Amendments
Article 80 — Implementation
Article 81 — Monitoring mechanisms
Article 82 — Repeals
Article 83 — Entry into force
Article 84 — Addressees


ANNEXES
Annex I — List of the activities referred to in Article 1(2)(b)
Annex II — Services referred to in Article 1(2)(d)
Annex II A
Annex II B
Annex III — List of bodies and categories of bodies governed by public law referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 1(9)
Annex IV — Central Government authorities
Annex V — List of products referred to in Article 7 with regard to contracts awarded by contracting authorities in the field of defence
Annex VI — Definition of certain technical specifications
Annex VII — Information to be included in notices
Annex VII A — Information to be included in public contract notices
Annex VII B — Information which must appear in public works concession notices
Annex VII C — Information which must appear in works contracts notices of concessionaires who are not contracting authorities
Annex VII D — Information which must appear in design contest notices
Annex VIII — Features concerning publication
Annex IX — Registers
Annex IX A — Public works contracts
Annex IX B — Public supply contracts
Annex IX C — Public service contracts
Annex X — Requirements relating to equipment for the electronic receipt of tenders, requests to participate and plans and projects in design contests
Annex XI — Deadlines for transportation and application (Article 80)
Annex XII — Correlation table

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Procurement Directive 2004/18/EC

A notice to those readers, who want to study the Procurement Directive.

Throughout, because of amendments, we refer to the consolidated version of 1 January 2008 of the Procurement Directive, officially Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts (OJ 30.4.2004 L 134/114):

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:2004L0018:20080101:EN:PDF




Ralf Grahn