New Public Procurement Directives Published

New Public Procurement Directives Published

On 28 March, 2014 the new directives on public procurement were published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Three Directives were published: Directive 2014/23/EU, Directive 2014/24/EU and Directive2014/25/EU.

Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement is the new directive for the classic sector, and repeals Directive 2004/18/EC. The new directive for the utilities sector is Directive 2014/25/EU on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sector, which repeals Directive 2004/17/EC.

Directive 2014/23/EC regulate the award of concession contracts. This area was not covered by the previous directives on public procurement, and so Directive 2014/23/EU represents a new addition to procurement regulation.

The main changes to the directives aim towards the simplification of procurement procedures, allowing more flexibility for contracting authorities and adapting the legislation to the legal changes introduced by the jurisprudence of the ECJ.

The Official Journal containing the texts of the new directives can be found at:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2014:094:TOC