The latest laws in force in public procurement have been put in place to address transparency concerns. On February 11, 2023, L'Echo reported that the government lacked transparency in its public procurement, but the Law of February 8, 2023 amending the Law of June 17, 2016 on public procurement and the Law of June 17, 2016 on concession contracts has been put in place to correct this situation.
Starting from September 1, 2023, the law imposes several obligations.
Firstly, the use of eProcurement electronic platforms (freemarket application) is now mandatory in the case of negotiated procedures without prior publication under European thresholds. This obligation applies to all contracts for which the invitation to submit an offer is launched from September 1, 2023, and the exception that previously existed for this procedure has been removed.
In addition, a simplified award notice must be published for public contracts and framework agreements below the European advertising thresholds. Finally, an award notice (simplified if applicable) must be published when the contracting authority decides to abandon or re-launch its procurement procedure. These last two obligations concern all contracts and framework agreements whose procurement procedure is ongoing and have not yet been awarded by September 1, 2023, as well as those launched subsequently.
Starting from January 1, 2025, contracting authorities must communicate to the federal reference point, referred to in Article 163 of the Law of June 17, 2016, no later than February 15 of each year, the total value of subsequent contracts awarded on the basis of framework agreements during the previous year. This obligation concerns all subsequent contracts awarded on the basis of framework agreements whose procurement procedure is ongoing and have not yet been awarded by January 1, 2025, as well as those launched subsequently.
In addition, contracting authorities must communicate the total value of low-value contracts concluded in the previous year, except for contracts whose award amount is less than 3,000 euros excluding VAT. This obligation concerns all low-value contracts whose procurement procedure is ongoing and have not yet been awarded by January 1, 2025, as well as those launched subsequently.
Source Public Service Wallonia
