Submit your question to the public procurement ex-ante assessment helpdesk
National authorities can contact the helpdesk on specific issues they face when developing the procurement plan for a project with a total estimated value of at least €250 million or of otherwise high importance.
Questions might include:
- What is the applicable EU legal framework governing a project: classic procurement, utilities directives, the concessions directive, etc.?
- What are the conditions for exclusions from the directives?
- What procurement procedures should be used and what are their specific features?
- What are the selection and award criteria?
- How to include green, social and innovative considerations
- How to implement joint procurement under Article 39 of Directive 2014/24/EU
If necessary, the helpdesk can continue to offer advice throughout the project, e.g. on issues related to award procedures or the possibility of amending existing contracts. However, any detailed assessment of the broader procurement plan or specific aspects of it, will have to be conducted under the notification mechanism.
Example of a helpdesk question: future construction of a railway line
A contracting authority is considering the best procurement solution for the construction of a new, 150-km railway line. The authority could contact the helpdesk to inquire:
How should the public-private partnership that will build and operate the railway be developed? Does the envisaged distribution of risks require using procurement procedures in the field of utilities or will the project fall under the concessions directive?
If the country concerned is considering signing an international agreement covering the implementation of the project, would this agreement exempt the procurement procedures from the scope of the directives?
How best could a competitive procedure involving negotiation be designed and managed? How could the number of qualified candidates invited to participate in the procedure be reduced?
If the railway line links 2 different countries, the helpdesk could also be contacted:
- to seek clarification of the agreement needed between the contracting authorities from 2 countries to undertake joint procurement
- to clarify the applicable procurement regime when 2 EU countries want to set up a joint entity to realise a project
If a contract needs to be modified after it has been signed, an authority can submit questions concerning the conditions under which contracts could be modified. This would help it to decide whether or not a modification is possible without a new transparent procurement procedure.