The procurement process

Public procurement legislation is a set of so-called procedural rules. Procurement rules aim to implement the overall objectives of competition and free movement of goods and services within the EU. In other words, procurement rules do not aim to ensure that the public sector does good business and actually buys the best good/service (although it is of course beneficial if this is the case).

The question of whether the contracting organisation can make a commercially sound deal depends on the way the procurement is designed and how the requirements and conditions are formulated (qualification, evaluation and contractual terms). When a procurement is carried out, a clear pattern can be identified, the process is essentially the same in all procurements, although there are of course variations in different sectors and contracting organisations (in particular, requirements and conditions are formulated differently).

A procurement procedure is considered to have started when the contracting organisation has decided to launch a procurement procedure and that decision has been communicated externally, with the aim of acquiring the subject of the decision.

The first step that a contracting organisation then takes, or at least should take, is to start market research and planning of the subject matter of the contract. As part of this work, suppliers may be involved, either at the request of the contracting organisation or on their own initiative.

Once the contracting organisation has acquired sufficient knowledge of what is to be procured, it draws up the procurement documents, which contain all the requirements and conditions imposed on the supplier and the subject matter of the contract, but also how the evaluation of the tenders submitted will be carried out.

Once the procurement documents are ready, it is time for the contracting organisation to advertise the procurement, provided that the contract value of the procurement exceeds the direct award threshold.

The procurement documents always set a deadline for suppliers to submit tenders, and this is the next step in the procurement process. The contracting organisation cannot open the tenders before the deadline for submission has passed. Once that time has passed, the contracting organisation must examine whether the supplier and the tender meet all the mandatory requirements. Among the suppliers and tenders that meet all requirements and conditions, the procuring organisation must then evaluate qualified tenders.

The tender that is the most economically advantageous shall be awarded the procurement contract.

Before the contract can be concluded with the supplier, a contractual standstill period of 10 days applies. Only after this period has expired can the contract be finalised.

Suppliers who believe that the award decision is incorrect or that something else during the procurement process has gone wrong can apply for a review of the award decision. An application for review must be made before the contractual time limit has expired.

If no appeal is lodged, the contract will run for the period specified in the procurement document. Legal issues may still arise between the contracting organisation and the supplier during the contract period, please read more about contract monitoring.