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.

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 the equivalent to  1,900 billion euro in 2006.

In order to improve accountability and transparency in this area, the updated lists are intended to offer more opportunities for business to participate in public contracts, taking into account that EU public procurement rules apply to all purchases by public authorities and utilities falling above certain thresholds.

Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy stressed the fact that “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 tenders. 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 contain, alongside the details for Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV Codes) and other procedural issues, 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 of contracting authorities bound by EU public procurement rules had to be reviewed for technical reasons, such as reflecting 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.

EU public procurement procedures

EU public procurement directives stipulate that the awarding of public contracts by central government authorities, regional or local authorities and utilities are subject to EU rules, when their value is above or equal to the following thresholds applicable from January, 1st, 2008 (excluding VAT):

Public Works

• Central Government authorities: 5.15 M€
• Regional or Local Authorities: 5.15 M€
• Utilities: 5.15 M€

Supplies

• Central Government authorities: 133,000 €
• Regional or Local Authorities: 206,000 €
• Utilities: 412,000 €

Services

• Central Government authorities: 133,000 €
• Regional or Local Authorities: 206,000 €
• Utilities: 412,000 €

In practice, this means that tender procedures should be in line with the principles of the EC Treaty, namely that they should be non-discriminatory, transparent and proportionate.