On 9 September 2026, the European Commission published its proposal for a new EU Public Procurement Act. The text consolidates the three procurement directives adopted in 2014 into one regulation covering public contracts, utilities and concessions.
The proposal now goes to the European Parliament and the Council. Both institutions must agree on a final text before the regulation can take effect.
The proposal at a glance
- Replaces Directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU with one regulation.
- Covers public contracts, utilities and concessions above the relevant EU thresholds.
- Reorganises procurement procedures, supplier selection and digital infrastructure.
- Adds provisions on environmental and social objectives, innovation, security, resilience and access to the EU procurement market.
- Applies two years after entry into force under the Commission's proposed timetable.
The evidence behind the revision
The Commission's impact assessment puts annual public procurement expenditure in the EU at approximately €2.6 trillion, or 15% of GDP. The current directives govern an average of €616 billion of that expenditure each year and directly affect approximately 46,600 public buyers and 173,000 companies that sign contracts annually.
The evaluation preceding the proposal found that average participation fell from 5.4 bids per procedure in 2008–2010 to 3.4 in 2017–2024. Direct cross-border awards remained limited: companies established outside the buyer's country received 2% of awards and 4% of awarded value. Indirect cross-border procurement, through local subsidiaries or supply chains, accounted for approximately one-fifth of value.
Administrative work is another part of the Commission's case for revision. Its commissioned cost-benefit study measured the active staff time used to comply with the existing directives.
Contracting authority
20 person-daysWinning economic operator
11 person-days
EU-27, 2019–2024. Observation unit: one procurement procedure above the EU thresholds. Cost-data sample: 215 contracting authorities and 422 winning economic operators; concessions were not covered. Source: Ecorys and Capgemini Invent, Cost-benefit analysis on the quality and efficiency of public procurement procedures (2025), pp. 38 and 59.
Across the buyer and all participating bidders, the study estimated an average administrative cost of €43,200 per procedure. This includes unsuccessful bids. The figure is an average expressed in constant prices; the chart reports median staff time for each participant.
One regulation for three procurement regimes
The current EU framework consists of separate directives for public contracts, utilities and concessions. Each Member State has implemented those directives in national law.
A regulation applies directly in every Member State. The Commission expects this structure to simplify the framework and reduce differences caused by national transposition.
Today
Three directives
2014/23/EU concessions, 2014/24/EU public contracts, 2014/25/EU utilities.
Transposition into national law
Each Member State legislates its own implementation.
27 national procurement acts
The text a supplier actually bids under differs by country.
Three steps. The text a supplier bids under is national, and there are 27 of them.
Proposed
One regulation
Public contracts, utilities and concessions in a single text.
Applies directly in every Member State
No transposition step, so no national variation of the same rule.
Two steps. The text a supplier bids under is the regulation itself, so the third step has no counterpart.
Legal structure of the current framework and of COM(2026) 590 as proposed. The steps shown are those carrying the procurement rules themselves, not every applicable law: national rules continue to govern matters outside the regulation's scope, including administrative and contract law, so national law does not drop out of a bid.
National rules will continue to govern matters outside the regulation's scope, including areas of administrative and contract law.
Three principal procedures
The proposal organises procurement around an open procedure, a dynamic procedure and an innovation procedure.
The open procedure is the general route and can include supplier selection and negotiations. The dynamic procedure remains continuously open for commonly available purchases. The innovation procedure covers needs for which a suitable solution is not yet available on the market.
Buyers may also consult suppliers before launching a competition, provided the consultation does not distort competition or give a participant an unfair advantage.
Changes to supplier selection
Selection requirements must be necessary and proportionate to the contract. Article 27 sets several specific limits:
- Minimum annual turnover is generally capped at 50% of the contract's estimated annual value. A higher requirement needs a specific justification.
- Prior experience of public contracts can be required only when justified by the nature or complexity of the procurement.
- Buyers must consider dividing a contract into lots and explain when they decide that division is inappropriate.
A shared digital framework
Articles 132–135 establish a Commission eProcurement platform, an electronic eligibility service, National Public Procurement Data Spaces and an EU-level Public Procurement Data Space. The systems are intended to exchange procurement data across national borders. Member States may require their contracting authorities to use the Commission platform.
The eligibility service uses reusable digital credentials and applies the once-only principle. Verified supplier information can be reused in later procedures. National procurement portals will remain part of the framework.
The impact assessment estimates that the preferred digital option could reduce EU-wide administrative costs by approximately €1.07 billion a year. The estimate is modelled as annualised present value over seven years of application.
Strategic procurement and access to the EU market
Separate chapters cover environmental sustainability, social considerations, innovation, security and resilience. The proposal also establishes a framework for European preference measures in defined circumstances.
Measures can include restrictions on participation, origin requirements or an evaluation preference. The Commission may make certain measures mandatory through delegated acts where the regulation's conditions are met.
Exceptions apply where suitable alternatives are unavailable or a measure would cause disproportionate cost. These measures apply only in the circumstances defined in the regulation.
Governance and procurement data
Each Member State must designate a national coordinating authority for public procurement. The authority is responsible for monitoring, professionalisation and cooperation with the Commission.
Member States must assess their procurement systems every three years. The Commission will combine those assessments with data from the procurement data spaces for EU-level reporting.
Procurement public summaries must have an authentic version in at least one official EU language. Machine-generated versions will be available in the other official languages for information.
What happens next
From proposal to application
- 9 September 2026
Commission proposal
The Commission publishes COM(2026) 590 and submits it to the European Parliament and the Council.
- No fixed deadline
Parliament and Council
The two institutions examine the proposal under the ordinary legislative procedure and may amend it.
- After agreement
Adoption and publication
Parliament and Council must approve the same final text. The adopted regulation is then published in the Official Journal.
- 20 days later
Entry into force
The regulation enters into force under the timetable in the Commission's text.
- Two years later
Application
The new rules begin to apply and the three 2014 procurement directives are repealed.
The existing directives and national implementing laws remain in force during the legislative process and transition period.
