European Commission proposes a single regulation to simplify and modernize public contracts in EU
On September 9, 2026, the European Commission submitted the Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on public contracts and concessions, known as the Public Procurement Act.
The proposal is based on article 114 TFEU and aims to comprehensively revise the European public procurement framework to strengthen the internal market, competition, and legal certainty.
If approved, it will involve repealing the three 2014 directives: Directive 2014/23/EU (concessions), Directive 2014/24/EU (public procurement) and Directive 2014/25/EU (utilities sector), and replacing them with a single regulation, mandatory in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. This consolidation seeks to reduce the fragmentation arising from national transpositions, standardize application, simplify market access, and strengthen legal certainty.
Key Aspects
- Replacement of the three 2014 directives by a single regulation applied directly, without need for national transposition.
- Simplification of procedures: open procedure (with possibility to negotiate), dynamic procedure, innovation procedure, and special procedure with subsequent publication.
- Negotiation is established as a tool available in all procedures.
- The best price-quality ratio becomes the general award criteria, with minimum quality weightings.
- Strategic procurement is reinforced: environmental, social, innovation, security and resilience considerations, and European preference.
- New thresholds are established.
- A common digital ecosystem with interoperability, an electronic eligibility service and Public Procurement Data Spaces is established.
- A more flexible system for amending contracts is established, and adjustment mechanisms are introduced (indexation and performance adjustments).
- Two years are established between entry into force and date of application.
For more information, please contact our specialists through the Knowledge and Innovation Area.