The European Commission has updated the lists of Contracting Authorities and utilities that have to follow EU public procurement rules. The lists will give citizens and businesses the opportunity to identify which public authorities in the EU have to submit their public contracts to EU-wide tender procedures. As well as improving accountability and transparency in this area, the updated lists are intended to offer more opportunities for business to participate in public contracts. Total public procurement in the EU – i.e. the purchases of goods, services and public works by governments and public utilities – is estimated at about 17% of the Union’s GDP or €1900 billion in 2006. EU public procurement rules apply to purchases by public authorities and utilities falling above certain thresholds.
Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: “These lists are a leap forward for more transparency and accountability in public procurement. Taxpayers and businesses have the right to know who is obliged to publish calls for tender. Transparency pays off for the economy: EU public procurement rules ensured in 2006 that almost 32,000 contracting authorities published around 380 billion EUR worth of public contracts. Through public procurement, Member States’ national budgets can save 20 billion EUR in total per year – this is to the benefit of taxpayers everywhere in the EU”.
The public procurement directives (see IP/04/150) contain the lists of contracting authorities and entities that have to apply EU public procurement rules. Although the definitions in the directives themselves provide the exact scope, the lists give a very good indication of all public bodies covered by these rules.
EU public procurement rules apply to several kinds of public authorities: from national ministries to local councils, from schools to universities, but also to hospitals, airports, railway operators, museums, postal entities, urban transport, water utilities and national lotteries.
The lists had to be reviewed for technical reasons – i.e. to reflect the recent enlargement and the recent EU reforms in the postal sector. Rather than limiting itself to technical amendments, the Commission has replaced references to national laws by the actual names of contracting entities, or at least by some examples of these entities.
The public procurement directives (see IP/04/150) contain the lists of contracting authorities and entities that have to apply EU public procurement rules. Although the definitions in the directives themselves provide the exact scope, the lists give a very good indication of all public bodies covered by these rules.
EU public procurement rules apply to several kinds of public authorities: from national ministries to local councils, from schools to universities, but also to hospitals, airports, railway operators, museums, postal entities, urban transport, water utilities and national lotteries.
Austria – Belgium – Czech Republic – Cyprus – Denmark – Estonia – Finland – France – Germany – Greece – Hungary – Ireland – Italy – Latvia – Lithuania – Luxembourg – Malta – Netherlands – Poland – Portugal – Romania – Slovenia – Slovakia – Spain – Sweden – United Kingdom
For help or more information, please go to the forum for european public procurement.
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