EU Public Procurement Act

The EU Public Procurement Act is the complete set of rules in the European Commission's proposal for a new procurement regulation (COM(2026) 590), presented on 9 September 2026. One regulation is to replace the three procurement directives from 2014. It is a proposal, not adopted law. It will be handled by the European Parliament and the Council, and no supplier needs to do anything now.

How does the EU Public Procurement Act work?

The proposal is officially a regulation "on public contracts and concessions" (Public Procurement Act). It repeals Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU (Article 146). The proposal is marked as EEA relevant, is based on Article 114 TFEU and has procedure number 2026/0265(COD). Do not confuse it with Norway's national Public Procurement Act, which transposes today's directives.

The difference between a directive and a regulation matters. A directive must be transposed by each EU country into its own national law. A regulation applies directly and in the same way in all EU countries. For EEA EFTA states such as Norway, it must first be incorporated into the EEA Agreement and then made part of national law "as such". That only happens after the EU has adopted it.

Some things stay the same. The EEA thresholds in Article 2 are unchanged: €5,404,000 for works and concessions, €140,000 for supplies and services at central government authorities, €216,000 at other contracting authorities, €432,000 in the utilities sectors and €750,000 for social, health and education services. They are still adjusted every two years in line with the GPA. Notices are still published in TED. The remedies directives (89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC) remain, and defence and security procurement under Directive 2009/81/EC stays outside (Article 78).

These are the main changes:

• Lower turnover requirements: Qualification requirements on annual turnover can normally not exceed 50 % of the contract's annual value (Article 27(7)).
• Shorter framework agreements: a maximum of 3 years with one supplier and 5 years with several (Article 103).
• Three procedures instead of five: the open procedure, the dynamic procedure and the innovation procedure.
• More weight on quality: Quality must count for at least 30 % of the points, and at least 50 % in labour-intensive contracts (Article 98).
• Documentation once: An electronic eligibility service builds on the once-only principle and replaces the ESPD form and e-Certis.
• New notices and open data: Public summaries replace today's notice forms, and each country gets a national procurement data space.
• European preference: a voluntary tool for contracting authorities.
• Exclusion: 12 mandatory exclusion grounds without self-cleaning (Article 25) and 8 discretionary ones with self-cleaning (Article 26). Self-cleaning means the supplier can show that it has put things right. Receiving distortive foreign subsidies is a new ground.

What does it mean for you as a supplier?

If the proposal is adopted, the rules become the same across the EU and the EEA. Procedures, deadlines and documentation are identical whether you bid in Ireland, Sweden or Germany.

An example: A small supplier wants to bid for a contract worth €1 million a year. Today the contracting authority can require an annual turnover of up to twice the contract value (Article 58(3) of Directive 2014/24/EU), so €2 million. Under Article 27(7), the requirement could normally not exceed €500,000. More small businesses can then qualify. Tools like Cobrief help you keep track of tenders, whichever set of rules they are published under.

Frequently asked questions

When does this apply?

Not yet. The proposal is now being handled by the European Parliament and the Council. The regulation applies two years after it enters into force (Article 149), realistically 2029 at the earliest. The digital tools have their own deadlines in the proposal: the EU tool for digital business credentials must be technically ready by 30 June 2028 (Article 133), and national registers must be connected by 15 June 2029 (Article 29). For EEA EFTA states such as Norway, incorporation into the EEA Agreement comes in addition.

Does the regulation apply in the EEA EFTA states?

Not automatically. The proposal is marked as EEA relevant. Once the EU has adopted it, it must be incorporated into the EEA Agreement before it can apply in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Until then, their current national rules apply as before.

Will the thresholds change?

No. Article 2 keeps today's levels, and the values are still adjusted every two years, as today.

In short: the EU Public Procurement Act is a proposal to gather the procurement rules in one common law for the whole EU. For suppliers it can mean simpler documentation and a lower bar for taking part, but only in a few years, and in the EEA EFTA states only after incorporation into the EEA Agreement.