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Changes to thresholds that apply to the award of public contracts

Article Real Estate and Construction Environmental Law Public Law and Public Procurement Law European Law | 19/01/16 | 5 min. | Vincent Brenot Emmanuelle Mignon

French Decree no. 2015-1904 of December 30, 2015 lays down the new thresholds above which the award of public contracts is subject to a formalized tender procedure. 
 
It relates specifically to the new formalized procedure thresholds for public procurement contracts, contracts awarded by contracting authorities and contracting entities that are not subject to the French Public Procurement Code (Order no. 2005-649 issued on June 6, 2005), Public-Private Partnerships (Order no. 2004-559 issued on June 17, 2004) and public works concessions.
 
This Decree is based upon European regulations fixing the amount of European thresholds for a two-year period, from January 1, 2016 to December 30, 2017, especially in order to take into account currency fluctuations.
 
In addition, the Decree amends the French General Code of Local Authorities by aligning the threshold above which contracts awarded by local authorities and their public bodies are automatically transmitted to the prefect (préfet) for legality review (this threshold is now €209,000  excl. tax). 
 
It should be noted that when they are below the formalized procedure thresholds, contracting authorities or contracting entities must determine themselves their award procedures (procedure known as "suitable" for contracts subject to the French Public Procurement Code).
 
French Decree no. 2015-1163 of September 17, 2015, which has been in force since October 1, 2015, had already changed the threshold (by changing it from €15,000 or €20,000 to €25,000 excl. tax) below which no particular publicity or competitive bidding obligation is imposed on public buyers subject to the French Public Procurement Code.
 
The application of these new thresholds will be specified in the coming weeks in connection with the publication of the decree implementing Order no. 2015-899 of July 23, 2015 relating to public procurement, which has deeply rewritten and revised public procurement law and will enter into force no later than April 1, 2016.
 
The new thresholds are identified in the tables below, depending on the type of contract. 
 
             
               
               
               

Below these formalized procedure thresholds, public buyers may use a suitable procedure (contracts awarded pursuant to the suitable procedure, “marchés passés selon la procédure adaptée”, hereinafter "MAPA"). These MAPA allow them to organize freely the publicity and competitive bidding process based on theirs needs, in accordance with the principles of free access to public procurement, equal treatment of candidates and transparency of procedures.

However, for contracts exceeding €90,000 excl. tax, a notice of a competitive public tender must be published in the French Bulletin officiel des annonces des marchés publics or in an newspaper authorized to publish legal notices, as well as on the "buyer profile".

 

 
              
               

 

Below these formalized procedure thresholds, contracting authorities and entities must determine their contract award procedures and rules.

              
               
               
               

Vincent Brenot, partner
Emmanuelle Mignon, partner
Christian Pierret, partner

 

              
               
               
               
               
               

 

 

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