Procurement Directive

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

Official Journal No. L 134 of 30/04/2004, p. 114 - 240

full text (pdf, 530 KB)

Overview

This procurement directive constitutes a summary and amendment which became necessary because of changes of the following three directives:

  • Directive 92/50/EEC of the Council of 18 June 1992 relating to the coordination of procedures for the award of public service contracts,
  • Directive 93/36/EEC of the Council of 14 June 1993 coordinating procedures for the award of public supply contracts and
  • Directive 93/37/EEC of the Council of 14 June 1993 concerning the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts.

It was implemented in Austria by the Bundesvergabegesetz (BVerG).

Content

The Procurement directive describes the application and selection of procurement procedures, e.g. notice and communication terms, selection of participants, rules on transparency, etc. Special attention has been paid to the options provided by the information and communication technology.

Procurement directive and technical specifications

Scope

This procurement directive has to be applied to public (construction)contracts, which are contracts awarded by a state, regional or local authorities, bodies governed by public law, associations formed by one or several such authorities.

A further criterion is that the value of the contract be no less than a certain threshold. The thresholds given range from € 162 000 and € 6 242 000.

Contracts concerning the provision of water, energy, transport and postal services are covered under directive 2004/17 EC.